Invisible
by cb.spica
Summary: The Spiders were - and still are - her friends, her family. But your past is your shadow. KilluaXOC.  Warning: Author has an occasional tendency to come up with strange ideas.
1. Prologue

**/ / Edit: February 19, 2011 - I decided that the first few chapters of this story were pretty boring and could use some touching up. I don't know how much more interesting I managed to make them, but hopefully they're better ^^ Thanks to KiGaMi for helping me~ Enjoy xD**

This is my first fanfiction. I keep bugging my little sister to help me. I wonder why she's not fed up with me yet, and she's watching me type this. Odd much?

But anyways, ~Disclaimer~

Hunter x Hunter and all characters and some dialogue and everything else I might be borrowing belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. But Lucy is mine! (But no, I'm a girl, not some jealous creeper.)

Just to make sure I don't confuse anyone too horribly, the prologue is mainly (but not entirely) about the events that happen in Chapter 102 of the Hunter x Hunter manga. Durham Jets is just a name I gave to the tramp that didn't have a name in the manga. Basically, ten years ago, there was a tramp with no papers or legal documenting that was arrested for murder. According to the records, he simply didn't exist. After being forced to admit to the crime, he confessed that he was from Meteor City. However, three years later, the real murderer was arrested and it was recognized that the tramp had been falsely accused. Shortly thereafter, all the people who had contributed to the false accusation of the tramp were assassinated through suicide bombings. Near the foot of a corpse, there was a message saying: "We accept everything, so don't take anything back."

I hope you haven't clicked X yet. Gimme a chance... you haven't even started reading!

* * *

_In the beginning, we wanted i__t; __that was all._

Do you know the story of Icarus?

I don't know exactly where the story came from, but it was about a boy named Icarus and his father who were imprisoned for a long time. Eventually, though, they managed to make themselves each a pair of wings – feathers held together by wax. Before they escaped, Icarus' father warned him not to fly too close to the sun, for the wax would melt. But, ecstatic with the ability to fly, Icarus forgot his father's warning. The wax melted, and he plummeted to his death in the ocean.

Like Icarus, Durham Jets was a fool.

Deep down, everyone wants to be seen, to be noticed.

But we were invisible. We always had been.

We enjoyed the shadows in which we lived. They left us alone, and we left them alone. Things were fine the way they were. The glaring spotlight of the world wasn't something we needed.

Nevertheless, we were contradictory.

We were that child who sits in the back corner of the classroom and doesn't say anything at all during class. The child that wishes he were popular, but doesn't want his secluded world to be intruded upon. We wanted to be known, but didn't want to risk losing what we had. We were cowards in a way. Scared. So scared of change, we didn't act on our desires.

But nothing stays the same forever.

The only thing that is truly is eternal is change itself – Change is something that will always come, whether you like it or not. You can't hide; you can't run; you can't escape.

We knew it, and that child would have known it, but neither of us wanted to face it. But it was inevitable, and there came a time when we could no longer be isolated. Change found us. We, who were unknown, became known. But it wasn't how we thought it would have been. That was when the so-called tramp that only existed among the nonexistent, began to exist. Durham Jets was a fool. The day he decided to stray from the darkness, all of us were dragged out with him. He believed we could live in the sun, and maybe we could have, but he flew too close. His feathers wafted away on the breeze until there was nothing left of his wings. It wasn't long before he fell to his death, just like Icarus. It was everything we had been afraid of.

But no matter how foolish Durham Jets was, he was still one of us. We were tied more firmly than a family, our bonds deeper than any other.

And we cared about him, whether we liked it or not. It wasn't like we ever wanted to lose a part of our family, but we had accepted his crimes and execution as the truth. Though we didn't like it, we assumed that was just the way things had to be. But they didn't. Durham Jets was an innocent man. The accusations were false, and what we had once accepted as the truth was no longer the truth. Nevertheless, he was already dead – dead for nothing – and they couldn't do anything to change that.

We knew we couldn't have saved him, but he was a part of us that was had ceased to exist.

We now felt incomplete. The sweet taste of revenge was too tempting, and the idea of retribution spread among us like wild fire. It wouldn't be just our revenge; it would also be his. He was already gone, so we would fulfill what we assumed was his dying wish. What they had taken from Durham Jets would now be taken from them.

And so, take we did.

Ten years ago, thirty-one of us set out, armed with bombs and a deadly plan that no one would have ever expected. They died that day. But unlike Durham Jets, their lives had not gone to waste. All thirty-one of them who had contributed to the false accusation of the unknown tramp also vanished from the world of the living. It was a suicide bombing. Thirty-one of us. Thirty-one of them. Us as sacrifices. Them for revenge.

We were the people of Meteor City- the people who lived in the largest junkyard of the world.

Anything and anyone was welcome. It didn't matter who or what they were. But once something was left here, it was here to stay. Punishments were no exception.

_We accept everything, so don't take anything back_.

That was the last message left behind by those of us who had chosen to be sacrifices.

* * *

It's the end of the beginning!

...

I feel so dramatic now. Review and maybe Feitan will deliver pizza to your house. Wait, is that good or bad?

*If you still don't understand what's going on, read chapter 102 of the manga.


	2. Preliminary Exams 1:  The Fishing Boat

**/ /Edit: February 20, 2011 – Same thing as the prologue, I just added some stuff here and there. Thanks to KiGaMi for helping me come up with ideas ^^**

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters and some dialogue and everything else I might be borrowing belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

For various spellings of names:

Meteor City = The City of the Shooting Star

Kuroro = Chrollo

Phinks = Phinx = Finks = Finx

Feitan = Pheitan

Zaoldyeck = Zoldick = Zoldyck

Zeni = Jenny

The Spiders = Genei Ryodan = Phantom Troupe = Phantom Brigade

Coltopi = Corutopi = Koltopi = Korutopi

Etc.

Well you get the idea. It would be nice if the manga and the anime would be consistent, but they're not.

* * *

**Killua x Japanese x the Fishing Boat**

Apparently, there was this thing called "familial love".

"_Killua!" his mother shrieked. "Killua! Where are you go—"_

_Without a second thought, he had stabbed her. His hand was drenched in his own mother's blood. He knew she wouldn't die from such a wound, but it would certainly stop her from pursuing him. Ignoring her yowls of pain (from her wound) and joy (he had managed to injure her and that was worthy of praise), he left._

Killua didn't believe in it.

Apparently, there was this thing called "friend love".

Once upon a time, there was a boy who had taught Killua to love chocolate, who had laughed with Killua, who treated him like he was a normal kid.

"_You are incapable of seeing anyone as anything but a target. A son of the Zaoldyeck family doesn't need any 'friends'!" Illumi had said._

And so, without hesitating, Killua killed him.

Killua didn't believe in it.

Apparently, there was this thing called "romantic love".

That was supposedly the reason why people got married and had kids.

In the Zaoldyeck household, the reason you got married and had kids was to carry on the family line. To Killua, "romantic love" was the equivalent of "fulfilling your sexual desires", which was basically "sex".

And so, he didn't believe in that either.

Love had never existed for him; his job was just to kill others and destroy their love. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder what it was like to experience it. What was this "emotion" that caused people to go so far as, in some cases, dying for each other? Of course he had killed them for it, but he had seen people do it.

Everyone else got to know what "love" was, but since he was a Zaoldyeck, he didn't. He was a Zaoldyeck – an emotionless killer. He didn't have a heart… or, if he did, he had long since locked it away. How many locks had been put on it? He didn't know. But… what was it like to "love" someone, whether it was in the "familial", "friend", or "romantic" way?

And what would happen if he opened those locks?

People often said that love was one of the best things in life.

But if it could drive people to die for each other… would "love" be one of the best or one of the worst things in his life?

* * *

Sunshine seemed to be anything but scarce on the island of Iiawah, and it relentlessly beat down on the islands inhabitants. Although she was a visitor and not an inhabitant, Lucy was no exception. But unlike the islanders, she wasn't used to the heat. And so, she was currently of the opinion that jumping into an arctic ocean was a great idea, but, instead, had to make do with pouring bottles of ice water on her head.

Regardless of the scorching heat, the town was bustling with life. The islanders were eagerly selling popsicles, ice cream, and other cooled desserts to tourists, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetable products. The island was a popular tourist resort, known for its tropical climate, beautiful landscapes, and exotic wildlife. Just from her short visit to the island, Lucy had seen who-knows-how-many palm trees, multi-colored birds with huge beaks that could be heard screeching to one another from miles away, and mountains in every direction.

Little kids played games and ran in the streets. A little girl was pouting because none of her friends, all boys, would throw the ball to her. One of them almost ran into her and another fell to the ground and looked like he was about to cry. Lucy watched them, wondering what was so fun about throwing a ball around. It wasn't something she'd ever done. As a child, her life had revolved around training and stealing.

"_Kuro-chan," the little girl asked, looking up at him, "what are those kids doing?"_

_The man she had spoken to wore his hair slicked back, his skin pale, eyes black and depthless. He was in his early twenties at the time, but he was far above the average man his age. He was incredibly powerful and knowledgeable – she couldn't help but admire him. One day, she wanted to be like him. Like him, and the rest of her family._

"_They're playing games," the man answered. "But they're worthless games. There are no consequences for losing – in reality, there are always consequences."_

"_Consequences?" the girl asked._

"_Yes. The strong live, and the weak die. In this game, nothing is lost, nor gained. It is worthless."_

"_Ohhh," the girl said, understanding what the man meant. "Am I strong?"_

"_Not yet."_

Childhood – hers had been so different than many others'. She had played tag, like most other kids, but it was a different kind of tag. The one who was 'it' was the demon. She knew that if she was caught by the demon in real life that would mean that she had died. Those children lived in the safe little bubble that their parents had created for them, not knowing the truths of reality.

But that didn't mean she hadn't enjoyed her childhood. She just wasn't like those kids – naïve and ignorant of the world.

Wiping a mix of sweat and water off her forehead, Lucy continued to trudge down towards the harbor. Salesmen greeted her along the way, each offering her their products. She would glance towards them with a half-dead look and ignore them. They seemed to get the idea that she felt like she was in a toaster and didn't approach her any further.

Eventually, she began to feel the cool, salty ocean breeze gently caress her skin as she approached the harbor. The harbor was just as busy as the town – fishermen were lugging around buckets of fish, crewmen carrying large barrels of food and water for long voyages, and captains barking orders to those crewmen.

Other people mulled around as well, searching for the ship travelling to each of their destinations. The variety of ships was wide, with everything from barges to extravagant cruise ships to tiny passenger ships. Lucy wondered which of the many ships she would board to reach her own destination. She had been on a boat several times before but never anything particularly fancy. She couldn't help but imagine the ornate decorations and fancy cuisines on the cruisers.

But it most definitely wasn't the time to be drooling over food. She needed to find the bulletin board listing the times of departure and the destinations of all the ships in order to find one sailing to Dole Island. She didn't want to be running around in circles, searching around randomly with no clue of the location of what she was looking for though.

Besides, that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, and Lucy was absolutely positively sure that she would never do it. So, stopping for a moment to contemplate her options and observe her surroundings, she thought of what her brother would do. Shalnark would begin by analyzing the situation and then choosing the most probably option… which would be to visit the information center.

Much to her annoyance, when she had finally found the "information center", it was not air conditioned. Why? Because it was not indoors. She had been hoping to temporarily escape the heat while figuring out what ship she was going to take, but her hopes had been in vain. She now had to make do with the small amount of shade under the overhanging balcony above the bulletin board.

A silver-haired boy wearing a pale purple V-neck shirt over a maroon turtleneck was also staring at the bulletin board, particularly at the ship schedule. His hands were in the pockets of his black shorts, and tucked under his right arm was a green skateboard. Lucy looked at him curious and mildly wondered what the skateboard was for.

"Where are you going to?" she asked.

The boy barely took the time to even spare her a glance, but answered, "Dole Island."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said indifferently.

"Hmm…" she said, scanning the list, but not finding any ship going there. Maybe she had missed it. "I'm going there too. What boat is it, and when does it leave?"

"I don't know," he said. Dang, this boy was so boring. His terse replies were nothing short of screaming that he didn't particularly care whether or not she was talking to him or not. He had long since returned his gaze to the ship schedule and didn't seem to be paying any more attention to than necessary. Honestly, he reminded her of an NPC in one of Ubou's video games. You'd talk to the NPC, it would say something boring to you, and then the conversation would end.

"What do you mean?" she asked, choosing to overlook her annoyance with the boy. It couldn't be that there was no listing for Dole…

"Well this thing says there are no boats to Dole," he said, confirming exactly what she had been thinking. "Do you know what this says?" he asked, actually bothering to take one of his hands out of his pocket and pointing to the bottom of the ship schedule.

"Nope," she said, looking where he was pointing. She found herself staring at an oddly elegant combination of complicated characters made up of various lines. They looked like they could have been some form of writing, but she didn't recognize them.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh," the boy said, grabbing his head in frustration. Maybe he was going to start pulling out that gray hair of his and speed up the balding process? "There was supposed to be a boat to Dole here! It said I should get on a boat to Dole on the instructions I got from the Exam Committee!"

"You're here for the Hunter Exam?" Lucy asked.

"Well, yeah," he said as if it was completely obvious and it was the only reason why he would ever be standing here staring at the ship schedule. "What about you?"

"Same," she said. After turning in her applications, she had received instructions to come to Iiawah Island and get on a boat to Dole… so how come there wasn't a boat? The strange writing probably had something to do with it.

"Pfft," the boy said, "I doubt a girl as weak-looking as you could _ever _pass the Hunter Exam."

…Why had she bothered to talk to this boy again? He was a jerk. It didn't take a genius to see that. And from what she could tell, his tenketsu were still closed… he couldn't use nen. How dare he say that to her. "Oh really now?" Lucy asked, taking out her cell phone. "Awfully conceited, aren't you?"

"Heh, just stating the facts. Don't blame me if you die… at least I took the time to warn you," he continued arrogantly and shrugged. Lucy glared at him for a second before turning back to her cell phone. He wasn't worth getting annoyed with. Then he was silent for a moment before looking over her shoulder. He was just slightly taller than her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Sending a picture of that weird writing to my brother," Lucy replied, taking a picture of it with her phone. "I'm going to ask him what it says." Whenever Shalnark was in a situation where he needed to know something, he would never hesitate to look it up. But since she didn't have time to do that, the next best thing to do would be to ask someone else. "By the way, what do you do with that skateboard?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking completely confused. "Where the heck did your brain take off to? You know it's a skateboard, but you don't know that you ride on it?"

"My brain is right in my head, thank you very much, and I'm sure it's doing better than yours," Lucy replied irritably, before asking incredulously, "You mean you don't kill people with it?" In her world, if people carried extra items, they usually used them to slaughter people. Kuroro had his book and Shizuku had her vacuum cleaner (those were materialized though). Pakunoda had her gun, Shalnark had his cell phone, Nobunaga had his sword, and Feitan had his umbrella. She knew that_ normal_ people didn't go around carrying the items she used to kill people, but this boy wanted to be a hunter. Therefore, he couldn't be one of those normal people.

"I don't need it for that," he replied simply. "For that, I have these," he continued, smirking, as he tensed his hand. Lucy watched in amazement as his nails grew into cat claws. "They're razor sharp."

"Show-off," Lucy replied curtly, not wanting to admit to him that his cat claws were kind of cool. Then her phone vibrated. She quickly checked her text messages and found a brief reply: "the writing is in japanese. It says that the boat to dole is at the east dock".

The boy, who was looking over her shoulder again (hadn't he ever heard of personal space?), looked annoyed. "But we're on the west said of the island," he complained.

"Well that's not my fault," Lucy told him. "I didn't even know there was an east dock."

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "What's your name?"

For a second, Lucy was surprised. She didn't normally talk to anyone other than Shalnark and the rest of the Spiders, so nobody had ever really asked her that before. It was kind of odd how, even though this boy had a serious attitude problem, she couldn't help but smile happily as she answered with the first name that came to mind, "Lucy."

Even though meeting this boy was kind of… nice, she still wouldn't give out her real name. She didn't need to – her only family was the Spiders.

No one else was as important to her as they were, and no one else would ever be.

"How 'bout you?" she continued.

"Killua."

* * *

After running to the east dock in a panic that they might miss the boat (since there hadn't been an exact time the boat would leave on the schedule, they couldn't be sure of anything), Lucy was gasping for breath, and Killua wasn't even breaking a sweat.

He had already called her a wimpy little girly girl several times. She should definitely have punched him for that.

But as it turned out, the east dock wasn't actually that far from the west dock. It wasn't on the other side of the island or anything, just, rather obviously, farther east than the west dock. Even so, Lucy was just about as in shape as you or I and was simply not made of the same material as Killua. It didn't matter that her brother was Shalnark and she had been raised by the Spiders, since they had managed to neglect the physical aspect of training. Instead, they had skipped to nen. And therefore, for Lucy, running a few kilometers at Killua's pace (which was probably quite a bit faster than the average adult's sprint), felt like she had just run a marathon, and never wanted to run anywhere again.

In great contrast to all the grand ships, perhaps even passenger ships, at the west dock, Lucy and Killua found themselves staring at a bunch of tiny fishing boats. The whole dock reeked of not only ocean salt, but also of fish. Fishermen walked around, discussing the day's catches with one another.

"Hey," a shaggy-looking fisherman greeted, just as the two of them were wondering where in the world the boat they were supposed to take was. "What's your business?"

Lucy and Killua looked at each other, feeling equally awkward. It wasn't every day that you read a bunch of weird characters that lead you to a fishing dock when you were supposed to be getting on a ship to another island. In fact, they felt a bit foolish, telling the fisherman that. Finally, Lucy, knowing that the fisherman didn't mean any harm, said, "Umm…Hunter Exam."

Both Lucy and Killua were relieved to see the fisherman's face light up in recognition at this statement. But then he frowned. "Two kids?" he asked skeptically. "Taking the Hunter Exam?"

"Yeah. So?" Killua demanded.

"I don't see what's wrong with it," Lucy added.

"Aren't you a bit young to be doing something so dangerous?"

"Nah," they said in unison.

"Your families won't worry?"

At this statement, Killua looked shocked that anyone could ask such an absurd thing, and Lucy just laughed. "Pfft," Killua said. "My family? They'd be more worried if I was _afraid_ to take it."

"As for me," Lucy said, "They'd just laugh at me if I failed."

"Oh? If you say so," the fisherman said, surprised. "Follow me."

The fisherman took them around the dock to a canoe at the far end. "Small" was the perfect description for it, but if someone really wanted to describe it with a different word, it would be "cramped." There was barely enough space for three grown men, and there was already one man clad in strange black armor in it.

"Yo!" the weird man said. "What's with the kids?"

"They're taking the exam, too," the fisherman informed him.

"You should go back," the man warned. "This exam isn't for kids."

"Underestimating me isn't a good idea," Lucy replied, smirking confidently. Like Killua, this man couldn't use nen. How could he ever beat her?

* * *

I'm trying to piece the story together from what little detail the author gives. He's got an awful lot of plot holes and some inconsistency going on, so if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or anything else don't hesitate to review.

Also, on a side note, for those of you who have read Yu Yu Hakusho:

The Tale of the Sun and the Moon: Feitan's Explanation

One day Yoshihiro Togashi made Feitan read Yu Yu Hakusho. How he did that is beyond me. But anyways, on with the story.

Feitan: What this? Only I necessary. Who this Hiei? Why he copy me?

Togashi: Hiei was first.

Feitan: You mocking me. You hurt me. Now you hurt. You be burning. You be next sun, high, high, high in sky. This 'Hiei Clone' be moon. Rocks strike him till he die. I laugh. You both watch me live happy ever after. You realize you make big, _big_, _BIG_ mistake. I original. You no mess with me.

Phinks: Guess we won't be seeing that Togashi dude again.

Yusuke (in back ground): Who smashed me together with that idiot Kuwabara and made him? *points at Phinks*

Phinks: What? Wanna fight?

*Crash, boom, bang, smash!*

Shalnark: *sigh* I apologize for any offense caused due to the author's (Cursed Bunny) mutated idea of Feitan. One day she and her sister got together and he ended up being pretty strange. She's not trying to make fun of people with accents, she's just making fun of Feitan. But no, sadly I cannot say Feitan is at fault for Yoshihiro Togashi's unending string of hiatuses.

(Again, I apologize to anyone who was offended. I'm not making fun of people with accents. I'm making fun of the way Feitan is just like Hiei and Phinks like a mix of Yusuke and Kuwabara... more Yusuke though. Shalnark reminds me of Kurama in a way...)


	3. Preliminary Exams 2: Sailing to Dole

**Edit: February 20, 2011**

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except for Lucy and Mr. Gaico) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Special thanks to Sofia10Soccer for the encouragement, as well as those others who reviewed/story alerted me. ^^

Also, I'd like to thank my little sister for all the con/crit she's given me (but she won't give me her pen name so I can't give her proper credit.)

* * *

**Hanzo x Sailing x Dole**

_Killua stood on the sideline, watching some boys throw snowballs at each other. He was supposed to go straight home after finishing his mission, but he hadn't really felt like doing so. He was still soaked in the blood of his last kill… but he wore a jacket and mittens to cover it up. It was winter after all._

_The boys laughed and shouted at each other as each team worked together to be the "winner". Of course, there was no real winner to this game, but both teams were working hard at it anyways._

_Killua wondered what it was like to have "fun" like that. Assassins didn't need to have "fun". _

_Happiness was something only to be experienced a brief moment after the kill._

_A snowball almost hit him in the face; he dodged it instinctively. It was slow to him. It was nowhere near as fast as the knives that had been thrown at him during his training. He glanced towards the boys._

"_Hey," one of them said, "do you want to come join us?"_

"_Yeah," another one said. "You dodged that snowball I just threw, and you weren't even looking! You must be pretty good! Come join my team!"_

_Killua looked at them – they were laughing, playing. They were _normal_, he was not. He wanted to be like them, but he wasn't. He never would be._

_They lived in different worlds._

"_Would you still want to play with me if I killed people?" Killua asked. "If I could kill you?"_

"_Ha, you kill people? As if! Show us proof!"_

_Killua took off his mittens and jacket._

_Some of the boys just stood there wide-eyed, but most of them ran away screaming._

_Ah yes. Normal people were afraid of people like him. And why wouldn't they be? He was a murderer._

* * *

After introducing himself as Hanzo and goofily explaining that he was a ninja, he told them that, yes, there was a boat to Dole Island. In fact, there were lots of boats to Dole Island. The problem was that you had to sail them yourself.

In all honesty, Lucy wasn't used to having to deal with all these people she didn't know. The idea of having to work together with them was rather overwhelming, but it appeared as if she didn't have much of a choice. Normally, the only people she worked with were her family – the Spiders. There wasn't much need to go out and communicate with other people for them, so she had never bothered with it either. She had lived with them all her life. They were not only her family, but also her friends and role models.

"Hey," Hanzo said, interrupting her thoughts. "You take that oar. The boy takes the other."

"Take the oar?" she asked, confused for a second. She had never rowed a boat before. If the Spiders were going to steal a boat, they'd most certainly steal the best one in the dock, which typically had an engine.

Killua glared at Hanzo grudgingly. "Who made you the leader?" he asked.

"Stupid kids," Hanzo muttered irritably. "Look. Two people have to row and one person has to navigate. As if two kids would know how to navigate. I've been taught to navigate since I was eight," he bragged.

In Lucy's opinion, it was perfectly plausible that both she and Killua would know how to navigate if he'd been taught that skill since he was eight. And in any case, Shalnark had begun to show her how to navigate when she was five. Shalnark explained navigation by the stars, and Pakunoda had shown her how to use a compass. Phinks had laughed at her when she had messed up, but it had been seven years since then. By now, she was probably just as good a navigator as Shiny Head Hanzo. "How would you know whether or not we can navigate?" she asked.

Ignoring her question, Hanzo ordered, "Stop talking and row."

Lucy glanced at the oar and turned back to Hanzo. She didn't have the slightest idea how to row, but she wasn't about to admit it. "Why don't you row? For all you know, I could be a much better navigator than you," she said.

"A kid like you should listen to her elders," Hanzo said.

"Why I should listen to an idiot Shiny Head like you is beyond me," she challenged, shrugging. She could kill this guy any time she wanted to. It didn't matter if he was a ninja or if he was physically stronger than her. He would be dead in an instant if she wanted to attack him.

"How stupid," Killua said, looking bored. Rather than watching them argue, he was staring out across the ocean. "We're just sitting here wasting time. It's been a good fifteen minutes already."

"Fine," Lucy conceded, realizing the childishness of the situation. Kuroro would never permit such a thing within the Spiders, so he had created a simple solution. "Let's flip a coin," she said.

* * *

After finding herself rowing the boat having lost the coin flip, Lucy was finding that the silence of the boat was killing her. It had been easy enough to watch Killua and copy the rowing motion, but three people who did not know each other very well did not talk to each other, simply because they didn't know what to talk about. Either that, or they simply didn't have anything to say to each other. In this case, it was probably both.

Nevertheless, figuring out how to talk to someone she didn't know very well wasn't as easy as learning how to row a boat. It hadn't been too hard the first time she had talked to him, but for some reason, the second time was harder. Trying to strike up a conversation, Lucy turned to Killua and asked, "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Haha," she laughed, smiling happily him. "I'm the same. Twelve years old." He had looked around her age, but she hadn't expected him to be exactly her age. Within the Spiders, no one was anywhere near her age. Yes, they were like her family, but no, there were no "siblings" close to being twelve years old. In fact, the closest one was Shizuku, at nineteen. Still a seven year difference.

"Hmm…" he said, suddenly seeming interested. Lucy wondered if he was like her – he didn't know a lot of people his own age. "You said your name's Lucy right?"

"Yeah," she agreed.

"How come you're taking the Hunter Exam?"

"Mmm…" she thought for a moment, remembering the time when she had decided to take it. She had been travelling with Phinks and Feitan at that time. Feitan had said she was too weak and useless to take on missions with them, and asked why they should be bothered with taking care of a little child. Phinks had replied that she made things interesting, even though she probably couldn't even pass the Hunter Exam. It had been a minor thing, but she had decided to prove him wrong. Kuroro had forbid her from going on anything other than the easiest missions, and that was after she had begged him to take her on any mission at all. Only pathetic people couldn't pass the Hunter Exam. And she certainly wasn't one of them.

"Proving a point," she eventually said. Phinks, and even Kuroro, obviously underestimated her. She wasn't about to let them do that anymore.

"Really? I was just here to see if it would be any fun," Killua said. At first, Lucy thought he was lying, but he seemed genuine. He didn't even have nen, but he was so confident. Maybe the Hunter Exam was really easy… or maybe there was more to this boy than she had noticed at first glance. She had detected the familiar aura of bloodlust emanating from him, but she hadn't paid much attention to it. It hadn't been anything nearly as strong as Feitan's. Or Machi's. Or Nobunaga's. Or anyone else in the Spider's.

She began to take larger breaths as the oar started to feel heavier to her, but proceeded to ask him, "Do you like to kill people?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking surprised. It seemed as if he wasn't expecting such a question.

"Do you like to kill people?" she asked again and decided to explain. "Unlike that idiot Shiny Head over there," she continued, indicated Hanzo at the front of the boat (who was ignoring them). "…Who couldn't care less if he had to kill someone – he would kill someone if he had to, but neither likes nor dislikes it – you have an aura of bloodlust."

"Heh… So you noticed," Killua said, smirking. "Are you scared?"

"…Scared?" She was confused. Why would she be scared of such a meager killing intent nowhere near the Spiders'? He must be joking. Without meaning to sound rude, she asked, "Haha..ha…You're kidding, right?"

Killua blinked. Okay, maybe he wasn't joking. He looked somewhat taken aback that she was so indifferent about something like bloodlust. Lucy could tell that he hadn't noticed her own bloodlust yet. Perhaps, if they both lasted long enough in the exam, he would sense it.

"You're weird, you know that?" he said. She could tell that he was now a bit more wary around her… as if he didn't know what to think. Lucy guessed that he was trying to figure out whether or not she wasn't scared of him because she was just crazy or because she was stronger than him.

But Killua probably was not wondering if Lucy was stronger than him, since she was already sweating from all the rowing, as well as the humidity. Her arms were aching, and rowing through the water was beginning to feel like rowing through honey. Concentrating hard, she slowly enveloped the oar in her aura. By using shu, she could temporarily increase the time she could row, but, regardless, she wouldn't last much longer. Barely an hour had passed since they had left shore.

Changing the subject, Lucy asked impishly, "Do you think that guy shaved his head or all his hair fell out?"

"Heh," Killua said, going along with her. "Who knows. But I bet if we shined a flashlight at it, it'd reflect the light."

Hanzo, who had been ignoring them before but had realized they were talking about him, muttered, "Stupid brats." He then turned to look towards them. "You guys better not be slacking off back there. Almost anyone could row this thing, but there aren't nearly as many people who can navigate it to Dole. You should be grateful that I'm letting you guys ride with me."

"I don't remember ever telling you that I didn't know how to navigate." Lucy said, annoyed with Hanzo for assuming that she couldn't navigate just because she was a kid. "Let me navigate," she said, stopping to row. Her muscles would be sore tomorrow, and she felt like she could barely move. Her shu had temporarily decreased the difficulty of her rowing, but now, the use of extra energy needed to maintain it was taking effect.

"You lost the coin flip, so you can't argue," Hanzo replied coolly.

Lucy glared at him, frustrated. He was right; arguing with him wasn't going to get her anywhere. However, having her row the stupid canoe wasn't going to get her, him, or Killua anywhere. "Let me navigate," she repeated obstinately.

"No," Hanzo said, equally stubborn. "Kids should just be quiet and follow their superiors."

"Superiors, eh?" she said, smirking. "You wanna test that theory?"

"On an annoying brat like you?" he said haughtily. "Nah, not worth it."

"Oh, really? Seems more as if you're just too cowardly," she countered.

"Ha! Someone like you, who's sweating from just rowing this canoe, shouldn't talk."

"Oh yeah?" Lucy dared. "Then I'll just drop this oar into the water right now."

"I won't be the only one to fail if you do that," Hanzo warned. "We'll all go down together."

"Tch, it makes no difference since I'm not gonna row anymore anyways."

Killua had also ceased rowing at this point, a smart decision on his part. If he had kept rowing, they would have just gone in circles. He had been pretty quiet since they had gotten on the canoe. "Stuuupiid," Killua interjected.

Lucy and Hanzo both turned to face Killua. The difference between them was that Hanzo had lost his temper, but Lucy had kept her calm, despite her irritation.

"I hope the entire exams not set up like this," Killua continued. "It would be such an annoying game."

"Huh?" Lucy asked, sensing that he had realized something that she hadn't. Wait. If Kuroro or Shalnark saw the Spiders fighting amongst themselves, they'd immediately try to put an end to it. Arguing with that idiot Shiny Head wasn't getting her anywhere.

"You know, they're trying to make us argue, and you two are falling for their trick," Killua said.

Lucy thought about it for a moment and realized Killua had a point, which, as far as she was concerned, she would have realized if that idiot Shiny Head hadn't been distracting her. She wasn't on a boat trip with Killua and the idiot Shiny Head for fun. This was the Hunter Exam.

"Tch," Hanzo cursed. "You're right. This is a test. They're making three people who don't know each other work in a team by forcing them to row a canoe to Dole. This is a test of our physical strength, through rowing, knowledge, through navigational abilities, and cooperation. Fighting is just what they want."

"Alright," Lucy said. "Idiot Shiny Head."

Hanzo turned to face her, a vein popping in his head. She and him were not going to be good friends. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not next year.

"Truce until we get to Dole," she said.

"Fine, you irritating brat."

Killua had proved himself sharper than Lucy had first thought. He had managed to outdo her expectations. Interesting. She smiled in anticipation.

"Let me navigate," Lucy declared. This was the only way it would work because she was too weary to row.

"Why should we?" Hanzo demanded.

"I'm just as capable of navigating as you are, idiot Shiny Head."

"Whatever," he said, giving in grudgingly. It seemed as if he finally realized that she wasn't going to budge on that. "I'll row then."

* * *

Once they had sorted out their differences, it really didn't take terribly long for them to arrive at Dole Island – or at least what they assumed was Dole Island. The thing was, they found themselves not at a dock or a harbor or a port, but on the middle of a beach.

* * *

Thanks for reading ^^

Be sure to check out my profile for some links to pics of what Lucy looks like. She might not look the way you expected, but I don't think you'll be traumatized D;

Review are always welcome~


	4. Preliminary Exams 3: Going to Zaban City

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter, all characters (except Lucy and Mr. Gaico) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Another thanks to Sofia10Soccer and my sister~

**

* * *

Mr. Gaico x Fireflies x Phone Call**

The beach seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in both directions. Just beyond the beach was a forest, thick and overgrown. Considering the climate of the region – hot and humid – it was probably a rainforest. Vines draped down from moss-covered trees, all competing for the sun. On the forest floor, gigantic ferns stretched out their leaves. Various birds could be heard calling out to one another throughout the forest, as well as frogs, and perhaps even monkeys. Past the forest, the only thing they could see was the large hill, with a single tree at the top. If they were going to reach Zaban City, their next destination, they were first going to have to find out where they were.

"You leaving?" Killua asked, noticing that Hanzo was walking away.

"Yeah, I'd rather do things on my own," he said.

"Bleeeh!" Lucy said, sticking her tongue out at him as he left. She didn't want to have to deal with him again. No way. Absolutely not.

"So," Killua began, turning to face Lucy. "What's the plan?"

"Hmm…" thought Lucy. Usually, Kuroro or Shalnark would do all the planning, so this was something new to her. But perhaps she could figure out what they would do. At least she knew where to start: the first thing they would do was always analyze the situation.

"Well, I think we should figure out our options," Killua said.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. If Kuroro and Shalnark were analyzing the situation, that was a good place to start. "Let's see…"

"We know that we just got off that canoe and ended up in the middle of nowhere," Killua said.

"Right. So assuming that this is part of the exam…" Lucy said, considering their options. They should probably start by looking for…

"Clues," Killua said, practically reading her mind. "We should see if there were any clues left for us."

"Yeah," she agreed. But where should they start? Kuroro and Shalnark would start… at the boat, she decided. "I'm going to check the boat."

"Okay," Killua said. "Try checking under the seats or something."

"Got it," Lucy said.

Walking over to the boat, Lucy thought about everything that had happened in the past few hours. She had walked around town on Iiawah Island and met Killua at the ship schedule. They had run around to the east dock from the west dock, only to discover they had to ride a canoe to Dole. Then they met Hanzo, of who had argued with her, and arrived at their destination.

Now at the boat, Lucy started by doing just as Killua suggested – checking under the seats – but to no avail. They were all stuck firmly in place. She sighed. There would definitely be a clue somewhere; she was sure of it.

Maybe there was a secret compartment somewhere. This time, Lucy checked around the seats, tapping them to listen for hollow spaces. She still didn't find anything.

And then she considered checking under the floorboards. It had been the first idea that had come to mind when thinking about where someone would hide the clues, but would the Exam Committee really hide a clue in such an obvious place? Well, there wasn't really any harm in checking…

The bottom of the canoe was made of various interlocking blocks of wood. Lucy pushed them down to see if they would reveal a secret compartment or something (it wasn't likely, but you never knew), and then tried pulling them up.

She had checked the majority of the boat already and was getting frustrated. She was pretty sure there would be a clue in the boat somewhere. The Exam Committee wouldn't have known where they would land, so they would have left them a clue somewhere. She didn't believe they would just leave them stranded.

"You find anything yet?" Killua called from a little farther down on the beach. He _could_ be helping her, instead of sitting there doing nothing.

"Not ye— " she started before she felt a piece of wood come up in her hand. She hadn't forced it out or anything. More like it she had just picked it up to find a hole in the boat. She looked down at this new hole. An old, musty, yellow piece of paper lay inside.

"What?" Killua yelled. "I couldn't hear you!"

"I found something!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the piece of paper and running back over to Killua. "Look! I think it's a map."

"Let me see," Killua said, unfolding the paper. It was indeed a map – and quite a detailed one at that. They had to be somewhere on the strip on beach on the southern side of the island, since Iiawah was south of Dole. On the northern side was Zaban City. For the second time that day, they found themselves on the wrong side of the island.

"Great," Killua said. "We're going to have to run across another island."

"Wait. Before that, let's see where we actually are."

"Isn't it obvious? We're on the southern beach."

"Well yeah, I know that, but where on it?" Lucy said, looking towards setting sun. As evening had come upon them, the sky was now painted with reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. The sun's rays reached out across the sky above the horizon. Like all other sunsets, it was a beautiful sight. If the sun was west…

"We should be about here," Lucy said, estimating their position from what they knew.

"It shouldn't take more than a day to walk to Zaban City," Killua said. "The problem comes after that."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "We don't know where in Zaban City the exam center is."

"Well, we might as well get moving anyways. Sitting around here isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Nope. Let's go!"

"Wait!" an unknown voice called from behind them.

Lucy and Killua turned around to find themselves facing an older man, probably in his late forties. He looked like your stereotypical gentleman with his gentle face, thick gray mustache, light brown suit, and hat. On his shoulder was a little green lizard… a gecko maybe?

"Old man, who are you?" Killua demanded.

"Oh my," the old man with the green lizard said, propping up his glasses. "Already on guard?"

There was something odd about him. First things first – did he have nen? Using gyo, Lucy checked to see if he had nen. He did.

"You both seem to be quite skilled," the man laughed.

"I think you owe us an introduction," Lucy said. This old man was potentially dangerous if he had nen.

"Just as it is what I owe, it is what you owe," the old man said, sweeping his hat off his head and bowing. His lizard bowed its head with him. "You may call me Mr. Gaico."

"I'm Lucy."

"Killua."

"Ah, Lucy and Killua. Such nice names. Are you participants in the Hunter Exam?"

"So what if we are?" Killua asked. Lucy could feel the man emitting ren, but it was weak. Was he testing them? Killua looked scared... she was surprised at his sensitivity to nen.

"Well," the old man with the green lizard began. "I may be another examinee trying to sabotage you, or I may be your guide to the exam center, or I may even be a simple civilian. Trust, or not to trust?"

"I don't see why we should trust someone like you," Killua said.

The old man simply smiled at him. Lucy wondered how they could escape him if he attacked them.

"Killua," Lucy whispered. She didn't want the old man to hear them talking. "We don't have anything to lose."

"What do you mean?" he asked, also in a whisper.

"We could run, but this old man might be able to catch up to us," she said. If she focused her nen in her feet, she should be able to outrun the man temporarily, but Killua would definitely be slower than him.

"What you're saying is…" Killua began, seeming to realize her point. "If he wanted to sabotage us, he could do it at any time."

"Yeah."

"Okay," Killua said. Then called out, "Trust!"

"Such amusing children," the Mr. Gaico said. "How observational you both are. I am indeed your navigator."

Explaining that he had found them by using the tracking device on the map, Mr. Gaico said he had originally been planning to have them solve a riddle in order to find the exam center themselves, but had instead chosen to appear before them after they found the map. He had taken a liking to them. Together, they had managed to figure out that there would probably be a clue hidden in the boat somewhere and that choosing not to trust him had no possible positive outcomes, but choosing to trust him did. As such, rather than having them find the exam center through a riddle, he would outline the path for them.

* * *

Lucy and Killua found themselves following the path that Mr. Gaico had drawn for them on the map. He had told them they wouldn't need to be there until noon the next day, so they needn't rush. Even so, it would be better to go to town and find an inn to sleep in beforehand. That way they would be well-rested for the exam the next day.

Night was coming upon them as they walked. So as to avoid getting lost, the path Mr. Gaico outlined avoided the dense forest. He had said going through there without a compass was like asking to get lost. Navigation was difficult there even with compass, let alone without one. After the shoreline ended, they would soon find themselves at a path. That was where they were now.

"It's finally getting colder out," Killua said.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "It's nicer this way. Do you usually travel a lot?"

"Not on foot," he replied. "My family owns a plane."

"Really?" Lucy asked incredulously. The Spiders usually didn't bother with things like cars, buses, or air planes. For them, it was usually faster to just run places. When she was younger, Shalnark had occasionally carried her with them. It had been like flying. Wind ripping through her hair, the scenery a blur. "I wonder how hard it would be to steal one…"

"Steal one?" Killua asked, laughing. "Why bother when you have more money than you'll ever be able to spend?"

"It's more fun that way," she said. If she wanted it, then she took it. Stealing it was all the fun. So why would she pay?

"I'd think so too. But my parents decided to buy one anyways," Killua said, shrugging. "I guess I can't help what they do, eh?"

"Parents?" Lucy asked. She considered the Spiders like having a whole ton of brothers and sisters... but she didn't know what parents were like. She had always thought that maybe Franklin could be a dad though. "What are they like?"

"Mass murderers," he replied, bluntly.

"No, no," Lucy said. Her family was an entire group of mass murderers, so she completely disregarded what he said as if it was completely normal. "What I mean is what are their personalities?"

"Huh?" Killua said, completely stunned.

"What are parents like?" she asked.

"Dunno. Mine are weird," Killua replied, clasping his hands behind his head and looking up towards the sky.

"Mmm… is that so?" she said, smiling, before noticing something out of the corner of her eye. "Killua! Look, look! It's a firefly!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"Isn't it pretty?"

"I guess."

"C'mon, don't be such a kill-joy!"

She laughed and played, chasing the fireflies down the path. Even though she had been only two years old at the time, she could faintly remember seeing them the day she, Shalnark, Kuroro, Nobunaga, Ubou, Franklin, and Pakunoda had left Meteor City. Kuroro had said that he believed they were the souls of the dead, waiting for their last wishes to be fulfilled by the living. Upon having their wish fulfilled, they would depart. Lucy wondered what these fireflies' wishes were.

* * *

It wasn't long after that that they reached Zaban City and walked into the first inn they saw. The inside of the inn was cool and crisp, a perfect contrast to the weather outside. The woman at the front desk seemed more than willing to give two kids a free room in the middle of the night. She had smiled, said it was dangerous to let two kids roam around at night, and taken them to a room.

Inside the room, Lucy said, "I could have just stolen the key, you know."

"Whatever," Killua said as he starting dialing a number into the room's phone. "I'm starving."

"Me too," she said, flopping down on her bed. The room did have two beds, even if it was small. The phone, along with a lamp, was placed on the nightstand between the two beds. In the corner, there was a dresser, with a television on it, and a closet. There was also a single window on the far end of the room, reaching from the ceiling to the floor. Killua was now walking over to close the curtains over it, while he spoke into the phone.

The door near the entrance caught her eye. It couldn't be, could it? Was it really? Could it possibly be? Lucy bolted over to it.

Killua, having finished his phone call, asked, "Whatcha doing?"

"Oh my god! There's a shower in here!" she said, turning to face him. She was absolutely thrilled. It had been several years since she had travelled with Kuroro or Shalnark, and they were the only two who ever bothered with getting hotel rooms. The last time they had all met, Kuroro had partnered with Coltopi and Pakunoda, Shalnark with Bonolenov, Nobunaga with Ubou (as usual), Feitan and Phinks with her, and Machi and Franklin by themselves. Feitan and Phinks were no better than Nobunaga and Ubou with getting hotel rooms – it never even crossed their minds. And so, she had become accustomed to chilly lake baths. A shower? Heaven.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Killua asked skeptically.

Just as Lucy was about to tell him that she was going to take a shower, her cell phone rang. "Ah, hold on," she told Killua. She opened the hotel room door and, standing outside of it, answered the phone.

"Where the hell'd you go, Luelle?" the caller asked.

"Nowhere in particular, Phinks," she said coldly. She hadn't told him where she was going, and she had no plans of doing so. He was going to be proven wrong before he even knew it.

"Feitan says he's gonna kill you," Phinks informed her. She heard some screams in the background and wondered mildly what they were doing at the moment.

"He always says that, doesn't he?" Lucy replied.

"I bet you'd die in an instant if he was serious," he said. She could tell he was smirking.

"Hmph," she said, suddenly getting defensive. Even if she couldn't match up against Feitan yet, one day she'd be able to. "As if."

"Boss is gonna get mad at you, you know."

"Oh well. I don't care."

"Your problem then," he said. A man screamed on the other end of the phone. Lucy guessed that Phinks was probably slaughtering people at the same time he was talking to her. "Better not face any other nen users though," Phinks warned, laughing. "You'll die."

"Bye," she said, hanging up. She would pass this stupid Hunter Exam. Then he wouldn't be able to say that anymore.

Okay, just to make a few things clear about this chapter. It wasn't a mistake that Phinks called her Luelle instead of Lucy. Lucy is the name she prefers to go by, and Luelle is her actual name.

Also, the reason she didn't mention Shizuku when she was talking about who was partnered with who was because Shizuku wasn't part of the Spiders at that point. Shizuku and Hisoka are both new members since the last time they met as a group.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^

Reviews are highly appreciated =)


	5. First Exam

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

The usual thanks: Sofia10Soccer and my sis~

Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio finally appear in this chapter =D

Oh, and, Tonpa is called Tonpa in the manga and Tompa in the anime. I'm going to go with Tonpa here.

* * *

**Chocolate x Steak x Juice**

The next morning, Lucy woke up to find that Meteor City had moved to her hotel room. Not. But it did look like someone had been using the room like one giant trash can. Countless empty plastic bags were strewn across the room, and against one wall, there was a giant pile of boxes, almost all of which had been opened. The stench of chocolate filled the room. Killua sat in a corner, continuing to chow down.

"…What the…?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"Hahahahaha!" Killua laughed. Sleepily, she turned to face him. "You look like Mop Head!"

"Wha…?" she asked, still half-asleep. "…Oh. Lemme alone…"

Lucy couldn't figure out what in the world was possibly so hilarious until she dragged herself into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her long, auburn hair was a wreck across her face, and she looked so tired she might as well have been woken up mid-hibernation. Apparently, she got such a good sleep on a bed in comparison to when she slept outside that she never wanted to wake up. Great.

After fixing herself up a bit, she walked back into the room. Suddenly it hit her that stacks of boxes of chocolates didn't just appear out of nowhere.

"Killua," she asked. "Where'd all that chocolate come from?"

"Well, I ordered it last night of course," he said. "But Ms. Mop Head was too conked out to wake up when it arrived this morning."

"Is that so?" she said, feeling a bit annoyed. It wasn't her fault that it had been a few years since she had slept on a decent bed.

"Mhm," Killua said, stuffing more chocolate in his mouth.

"Did you get any vanilla?" Lucy asked. Vanilla was her favorite flavor – if it was vanilla, she would eat it.

"Baeella?" Killua asked. His mouth was full, but she could tell he was trying to say, "Vanilla?"

"Well yeah," she said. "Vanilla's by far the best flavor, isn't it?"

"What?" Killua blurted, after swallowing his chocolate. "No way! Chocolate's the best! You crazy Mop Head!"

"You must have some disorder of the taste buds. Vanilla is _far_ better than chocolate," Lucy said smugly. "Eyesight as well, if you still think I look anything like Mop Head, Mr. Gray Hair."

"Oh yeah, Mop Head?"

"Yeah, Gray Hair," she said, finding herself smiling. It wasn't a smirk or a sneer but a genuine smile. Being with Killua was fun. It must be because they were the same age.

"As if," he said playfully, and then looked at the clock. "We better get going."

It was pretty early still – 9AM – but they wanted to leave early to make sure they got to the exam center on time. They also had to clean up the ridiculous number of chocolate bags Killua had thrown about the room. It was actually another hour before they left, simply because of all the cleanup.

Zaban City was a rather large tourist city. People crowded in the town square and sat next to the fountain. The weather was perfect – there was a cloudless sky and a light breeze. Shops of every kind were around, everything from beauty salons to antique shops. As they made their way towards the Greasy Spoon that Mr. Gaico had mentioned, Killua was constantly off staring down chocolate displays (Lucy wondered how he could possibly want any more of it, especially when there everything vanilla-flavored, too) and Lucy jumped around from shop display to shop display admiring the stuffed animals.

"Isn't that it?" Killua asked from behind Lucy.

Lucy had been too busy staring at what she thought was a really cute plushie of a zombie-ish, voodoo-looking bunny to notice that they were standing right in front of the Greasy Spoon.

"Oh!" she said, turning around. She would definitely have noticed that first if the bunny wasn't so terribly cute. "You're right…"

"Let's go in then."

"…but I want that bunny…"

"I don't see what you like about it. It's ugly."

"Hmph," Lucy said, pouting. Feitan had something quite similar the last time she said she wanted a stuffed animal ("I no see what good about useless ugly thing," he had said.)

The Greasy Spoon was a small restaurant on Tsubashi Street. Mr. Gaico had said to ask for a steak combo grilled under a low flame once they entered, and then they would be at the exam center. For a second, she wondered why the exam center would be in such an inconspicuous place, but then she decided it was_ because_ it was such an inconspicuous place. Shalnark would have said that the Exam Committee would never put the exam center in an obvious place, so as to force the applicants to pass their designated tests first.

"Welcome!" a lady dressed in what Lucy assumed was the restaurant's uniform greeted. "What do you want to order?"

"A steak combo grilled under a low flame," Killua said calmly.

"Okay. Right this way," she said, leading them to a room at the back corner of the restaurant.

* * *

As it turned out, the "room" was really an elevator. When Killua and Lucy stepped out of the elevator, they were immediately greeted by the suspicious stares of all the other people gathered in the underground tunnel. Lucy estimated there were about one hundred of them so far.

"Your number badge, sir," a tiny man with a round, bald head and big eyes said, handing Killua a badge. "And yours, miss."

Lucy looked over Killua's shoulder and noted that his number was ninety-nine and hers was one hundred. She wondered if they would have any importance later on in the exam besides identifying the examinees.

"Hey! Are you guys new?" a man with a rectangular nose said, smiling warmly. He reminded Lucy of a teapot – short and stout. She noted that he must be weak since he didn't have any nen. Neither did most of the other candidates in the room. So far, there was only one who had caught her attention…

"Yeah," Killua said.

"What of it?" Lucy asked. Even though this man was weak, there was something off about him. "I'm Tonpa!" he said. "Maybe I can help you out during the exam."

"You can?" Killua asked. "Oh, and I'm Killua. The weird girl next to me is Lucy."

"I don't need your help," Lucy said icily, crossing her arms. She didn't need anybody else's help to pass an exam where there were so many people who couldn't use nen.

"Now, now," he said, and then continued. "You see, I'm a veteran examinee. This is my thirty-fifth time taking the exam," he explained, as he began fishing in his pockets for something.

"Wow, you not only look like a pig, you must have the brain of one, if you're still taking this exam when you're obviously too pathetic to pass it," Lucy said. The idiot Shiny Head had been annoying and weak and useless, but this guy was more annoying, weaker, and stupider than him. Furthermore, this guy was far too friendly. He would probably be dead already if he was so overly helpful to people he had just met.

The man seemed to be ignoring her rude commentary since he had finally found what he was fishing for. "Say, why don't we all drink to our luck passing the exam this year?" he asked, handing Lucy and Killua each a can of orange juice.

"I don't need luck," Lucy said, although she was more than willing to accept the orange juice.

"Thanks a bunch, Tonpa!" Killua grinning foxily. Lucy noticed that his personality seemed a lot more carefree and airheaded than it did before. Fake, somehow. He was already glugging down his can while she was still opening hers.

"I'm still thirsty," Killua said as he eyed Lucy's can. Just when she was about to drink it, she realized she wasn't holding it anymore. Killua had already finished drinking his and had now finished hers as well.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"I was thirsty, Mop Head."

"I do have a name, Gray Hair!"

"Heh," he smirked. "You should be more grateful."

"For what?"

"Pfft. Nothing."

By the time they stopped arguing, Tonpa was already gone.

* * *

Lucy and Killua had arrived at the exam center around 10:30AM, leaving other possible participants another one and a half hours to arrive. Killua stood against one the walls and yawned, bored. Around 11:15, Hanzo had turned up. Lucy had hoped he wouldn't have made it passed the preliminary tests but found her hopes in vain, as Hanzo was handed the number badge for 294. Just a few minutes after Hanzo, another potential threat, besides Number 44, had appeared.

Out of all the participants, Number 44 and Number 301 were the only ones who could use nen, other than her. Number 44… she could tell he was dangerous. Very dangerous. His aura reminded her of those of the Spiders… strong, pulsating, lusting for blood. Just because Lucy didn't find the Spiders intimidating, it didn't mean that this man was the same… As for Number 301, on first glance, he didn't seem very powerful, but she suspected he wasn't showing his full strength… Those two were to be avoided…

The exam was supposed to start at noon, but no other interesting participants came until 11:45, when a group of people that (looked an awful lot like the stereotypical image of a happy family did in her opinion) walked in. There was a tall man wearing glasses and a suit that Lucy assumed was the father, a shorter woman with blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like she could be the mother, even if she was a bit young, and a short kid with spiky black hair, green hiking clothes, and a fishing rod. At the sight of the kid, Killua looked up. Tonpa had already approached them.

"How old do you think that boy is?" Killua asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Lucy said. "Oh, I dunno. Probably around our age."

"You think so?" he asked, sounding particularly curious. "Hmm…"

"Hehe," Lucy snickered impishly. "The old guy looks like a monkey!"

"Pfft, you thought so too?"

"Yeah! He's such a monkey man!"

Even though they had only known each other for a day, they were already friends. Lucy found herself laughing with him the way she had only laughed with the Spiders… why?

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" a scream broke the silence. Lucy and Killua jerked their heads to face the spectacle.

"Behold," the man with hair the color of mint ice cream said. "Now you see them, now you don't. No tricks involved."

"Muh-muh… My arms…!" the man gawked. He kneeled on the floor, missing his arms from the elbows down. Sweat coated his face, his eyes filled with terror.

"You should be more careful," Number 44 said slyly. "At least apologize when you bump into someone." Then he walked away, but not before glancing towards Lucy with a creepy smile across his face. Then he disappeared into the crowd once more.f

Lucy turned back to face Killua, who wasn't looking any more stunned than she was. "I guess that's one participant gone."

"Yeah," Killua agreed. "That guy… he's going to be trouble."

"He should definitely be… avoided," Lucy said.

"!" an alarm shrieked without warning, catching the attention of all the examinees. A mouthless man wearing maroon-colored suit had appeared in front of them. "As of now… registration is closed," he said.

Besides that he was mouthless, the second thing that caught Lucy's attention was that the man was a nen-user. The third thing that caught her attention was that he resembled a mouse, although she wasn't quite sure why.

"As of now…" the mouthless mouse man said, "…registration is closed. The Hunter Exam will now begin."

A murmur went through the crowd at this news. Finally… finally it would begin.

"This way please," the man directed. "Just for clarification, you should all know that the Hunter Exam is very harsh. If you're unlucky or if you're lacking ability, you'll get injured or die. It may be caused by another examinee or due to unforeseen conditions. For those who don't mind, please follow me."

The crowd gradually began to move forward. Not a single person stayed behind, save for the man who had lost his arms.

* * *

It wasn't long before the examinees realized that, as the mouse-faced man walked down the tunnel, his pace was quickening. As he walked, he explained that his name was Satotz, their examiner for the first phase of the exam. He was also to be their guide to the second phase.

Killua had said that he was going to go ahead for a bit because he wanted to talk to the boy with the fishing rod. Lucy had told him that she would catch up to him later then. That boy had looked boring to her. The only reason she had paid attention to him when he first walked in was because the group he walked in with had looked like a family.

Lucy kept glancing behind her. Someone was watching her, but who? It was probably just some wimpy person who couldn't use nen, but what if it was Number 44 or Number 301? But no matter who it was or why they were watching her, she wouldn't let them get in her way of passing this exam. She would pass, at any cost.

**

* * *

15 Minutes Later

* * *

**

Lucy found herself gasping for breath. Nobody else was breathing nearly as heavily as she was. She wondered how long they would be running for, but it probably wouldn't be too much longer, right? None of the people here were nearly as strong as the Spiders, so they couldn't possibly have made the test that hard.

Her legs felt like lead as she tried to keep up with the rest of the crowd. The eyes of the unknown person continued to drill themselves into her back. From where she was, she could see Killua talking to the boy with the fishing rod and jumping off his skateboard. She definitely should have asked to borrow that before he had left.

**

* * *

10 Minutes Later

* * *

**

Each breath she took was never enough. Since no one else was tired yet, they must all be faking or something. Kuroro, Shalnark, Pakunoda, Machi, Coltopi, Franklin, Bonolenov, Nobunaga, Feitan, … none of them had ever really focused on physical training so much as nen. Ubou and Phinks had wanted her to do push-ups and such, but she had never bothered. Why should she? Nen was so much more important… Now she felt herself almost regretting that she hadn't trained with them.

Whoever had been staring at her back earlier still hadn't given up. She scanned the crowd behind her, but found no one suspicious. Number 301 was in front of her… where was Number 44? She looked around but couldn't find him. He shouldn't have dropped out yet though. Not with the kind of aura he had…

Why hadn't they finished running yet? This exercise was not only arduous, but tedious. They could at least make this pathetic exam some fun. Her legs didn't want to move any more, but she focused her nen in her feet so that she could keep going a little longer. Not a single examinee had given up yet. She wondered if she had underestimated them.

**

* * *

5 Minutes Later

* * *

**

Her vision getting blurry. White splotches filled her field of vision. Slowly, slowly, but now more quickly, she was losing the crowd. She couldn't even feel her legs anymore. Her lungs thirsted for the air that they weren't getting. How much farther was it?

Was she really going to lose to all these people who had probably even heard of nen? No, she wasn't. Not now, not ever. But she could barely see what was in front of her anymore…

A sharp pain in the back of her neck. That was all she felt before she blacked out.

* * *

Hmm... I hope I managed to make the first exam somewhat interesting so far. I really wasn't sure if I'd be able to make running down an endless tunnel interesting lol.

The reason Lucy doesn't recognize Hisoka is because she hasn't met him yet. As I said in the author's notes on the last chapter, Shizuku and Hisoka are both new members. Although she has met Shizuku a few times, she has yet to meet Hisoka.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^

And, out of pure randomness, the original teapot was Napoleon Bonaparte. Yes, I know I'm perfectly normal, walking into biology and just telling my friends that I thought Napoleon was a teapot. Yes, yes, perfectly normal~

Reviews please =)


	6. Second Exam 1: Boars

Special thanks to Sofia10Soccer, AcPa xox, Snowy-Sonya, and Itashi-sama for reviews, as well as Cookie Krisp (my sister).

(1) - Hatsu: A person's unique nen ability (ex. Kurapica's chains, Killua's electricity, Gon's Rock-Paper-Scissors)

Enjoy ^^

* * *

**Hisoka x Boars x Sushi**

Lucy woke up to find herself lying next to the monkey-faced man (who now had a big bruise on one of his cheeks) with the fishing rod boy, the blonde girl, and Killua staring at her. The last thing she remembered was running during the first exam. Now, she was in front of some random warehouse in the middle of a swamp forest. Except for the clearing they were in, they were surrounded by dense vegetation.

"…Wha? What happened?" Lucy asked, completely confused.

"Good morning, Mop Head," Killua said. Lucy glared at him but wasn't in the mood to reply.

"Oh, you're awake!" the fishing rod boy said. "You're Lucy right? I'm Gon! Nice to meet you!"

Lucy figured Killua had probably told Gon her name. "Oh…um…yeah," she said awkwardly, not used to getting told 'nice to meet you.'

"This is Kurapica!" Gon continued, gesturing towards the blonde girl. He then pointed to the monkey man. "And that's Leorio!"

"I see," she said, thinking about what he had just said. He was on a first name basis with them? If they were his parents he wouldn't call them by their first names."…Wait. Then you're not the mom, you're not the dad, and you're not the son?" she asked, pointing to each individual she was referring to.

Killua started snickering at her.

"Huh?" Gon asked.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Leorio shouted. He was almost as loud as Ubou. She had to cover her ears. "I'm not _that _old!"

"…I'm a guy…" Kurapica muttered quietly.

"Hmph," Lucy said irritably. It was their own fault. It was this "Leorio's" fault for looking like an old geezer and this "Kurapica's" fault for looking like a girl. Her own reasoning that they had been a family was perfectly logical. "Well anyways, what happened?"

"Hisoka carried you here from the first exam. This is the second exam center," Killua explained once he had stopped snickering.

"Hisoka?" she asked.

"That guy," Kurapica said, looking towards Number 44. "He's Hisoka, the magician."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he carried Leorio here as well," Kurapica said. "But Leorio woke up first."

"Is that so…?" she said. It must have been Hisoka that had been staring at her then while they were running…

"Mop Head, you sure do sleep a lot," Killua said, shrugging. "You slept in late this morning and you were already sleeping again."

"Is that a problem, Gray Hair?"

"Not for me. People who sleep too much get wrinkles though, so don't blame me when you start getting them, Mop Head," he replied, smirking.

"Oh? Then what about you, who already has gray hair? Did you go gray from worrying about me or something?," she said, trying to stand up. Her legs felt like jelly, and she had to grab a tree to stand up. They wouldn't stop wobbling and shaking, not to mention that they were sore.

"By the way, what's making all that noise?" Lucy asked, noticing loud growls coming from behind the warehouse's doors.

"Who knows?" Killua said indifferently.

"Everybody else is waiting to find out too," Leorio said. Lucy looked around at the rest of the people there – there were still quite a few – and heard them muttering to each other about what kind of beast might be hiding behind those doors. "They're all pretty jittery."

"I wonder what's inside the warehouse," Gon said curiously.

"We'll just have to find out," Kurapica said.

* * *

The entire crowd was staring at the doors by the time they creaked open. Inside were an extremely large fat man and a small, pink-haired girl. Everyone stared at them. Most of them had thought there must surely be some strong beast inside. Perhaps the man was strong, but the girl definitely looked weak. Lucy checked their auras. Both were nen-users, and therefore, neither was weak.

"So, have you gotten hungry yet, Buhara?" the small, pink-haired girl asked the extremely large fat man.

The man's stomach growled… so that was the cause of the noise?

"The noise says it all… I'm completely _famished_, Menchi," Buhara replied.

"So you see," Menchi said. "We Epicure Hunters will be in charge of the second exam. The topic will be… cooking."

"_COOKING?_" the entire crowd screamed incredulously.

"Geez… After coming this far, why do we have to cook?" demanded a fat man, number 255, who looked like a wrestler.

Lucy was beginning to wonder how this exam had gone from reading a sign in Japanese to rowing a boat to a man with a gecko to running a marathon to cooking. Talk about random.

"You there," Menchi said. "If you have a problem, go home. If anyone else has a problem with this, you can all go home."

Nobody left, but several people were cursing their luck.

"Looks like no one's leaving," Menchi said.

"So, what kind of dish do we have to prepare?" Hanzo asked.

"First, you'll prepare the dish that I specify," Buhara answered.

"…Anyone who passes that can prepare the dish that I specify," Menchi added. "That means if both of us say it's good, you will pass the second exam."

"That's not fair!" the wrestler objected. "What tastes good varies between people!"

"Even if it tastes good to us, we're finished if it doesn't satisfy you examiners!" Number 198 argued.

Murmurs of agreement spread through the rest of the crowd.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down," Menchi said. "Listen up. Like I said before, anyone who doesn't want to take the exam may leave. Bye bye."

"You've got to be kidding!" Leorio shouted. "We can't go home after coming all the way here!"

The crowd was just getting a bit rowdy, when Gon asked, "Can you continue the explanation?"

"Alright," Menchi said. "The exam ends when both of us are full."

"Dammit," Leorio cursed. "I've never cooked in my life."

"I didn't expect this kind of exam," Kurapica grimly.

_Maybe the reason Phinks said I couldn't pass this exam wasn't because he thought I wasn't strong enough but because I can't cook… _Lucy thought. She wasn't feeling any better about this exam than any of the other examinees.

"I did!" Gon exclaimed.

"It's hard to imagine it from your looks," Leorio said. "What can you make?"

"There's a lot, but the dish I'm good at is raw egg over rice," Gon replied happily.

Lucy was pretty much ignoring them at this point, desperately trying to remember what little cooking the Spiders had taught her. The only thing Shalnark made was sandwiches… everything Machi made tended to blow up for unknown reasons… Feitan dumped everything in the pot and made some kind of poisonous witch's brew (anyone who dared to eat from the usually purple bubbling stew with fish heads and chicken bones and whole vegetables sticking out of it was bound to end up bedridden for weeks)… Coltopi was too short to use the stove… but Nobunaga had shown her how to make a few things! What were they again…?

"Okay then, my menu is…" Buhara said, interrupting her thoughts. "…barbecued pig. The world's most violent pig lives in this forest… Great Stamp!"

Just then, with perfect timing, a herd of pigs ran through the crowd.

* * *

Lucy, who had been so tired that she could barely move, was already forcing her aching muscles to run full speed ahead again. She had had to focus her nen in her feet to be able to even keep her distance from the boar. Yes, keep her distance. But that was only prolonging her doom since she wasn't getting any farther away from it.

"Leorio!" Lucy heard Gon yell. "Hit its head! The head is the weak point!"

That must mean Gon and Leorio were nearby… Lucy wondered how close they were, but that wasn't the main issue at the moment. Rather than worrying about that, she should be worrying about how she could escape and then whack this stupid pig on the head…

Wait. _Wait_. _WAIT_. What kind of crazy twist of fate was this? Lucy wanted to scream. Now there was not only a boar behind her, but there was also a boar running towards her now. She wanted to use her Hatsu(1) but couldn't concentrate enough to do so. She was far too panicked to be thinking about something like that.

The boar in front of her was closing in on her. Each second, it was closer. And closer. And closer.

Something caught her ankle. She looked down to see a vine pulled across the path she was running on. But it was already too late. She found herself face down on the ground.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Leorio asked her. Lucy looked around, wondering what had happened. A second ago she was being chased by one boar and running towards another. Then she realized that she lying underneath the snouts of the two boars.

"They're both dead," Leorio said. "I pulled the vine, intending to trip the boar, but it seems I ended up tripping you instead."

"Well," Lucy said, quite annoyed that she was stuck underneath two boars. The boar behind her was crushing her feet. "It would be great if you got me out of here, since you're the cause of all this mess."

"Excuse me?" Leorio said, suddenly shouting. "I just saved you and now you're all 'you're the cause of all this mess'?"

"Aren't you?" Lucy said. She would have eventually had a chance to kill her boar if the monkey man's boar hadn't come running straight towards her… "And don't just stand there! Get me out."

* * *

After crashing into each other, both boars were dead. Since Leorio couldn't cook for his life, Lucy had cooked the boars, and Leorio had brought them back to the second exam center. Everyone else had arrived at around the same time.

"Wow!" Buhara exclaimed, drooling over the boars he had been brought.

"Oh my," Menchi said. "What a haul. We underestimated the candidates."

"How tasty!" Buhara said, eating the first of the boars.

Lucy was sure Buhara would pass the boar she had cooked for herself, but wondered how Killua and the others would fare. It would certainly be nice if he passed, and maybe Gon and Kurapica too. But Leorio… She had been annoyed with Leorio for making a fool out of her by tripping her, so she had purposely burned his boar.

"This one's good too!" he said. "Mmm, pretty good."

He was an Epicure Hunter. Lucy stared at him, remembering what Shalnark had said about them. They were supposed to be hunters who travelled the world in pursuit of rare cuisine and other exotic foods. They were often world-class chefs. So…so, why was he accepting every single boar he ate as good?

"Delicious! Great!" he exclaimed, finishing the last of the boars. Lucy's mouth was gaping. The man had managed to finish every single boar brought to him. He had even passed the super-burnt boar she had spitefully cooked for Leorio. In fact, he hadn't just passed that one burnt boar. He had passed every single boar he was brought, some even charred to a crisp.

"Ahh… I'm full, I'm full," Buhara said, licking his lips. "I can't eat anymore."

"And that's the end! Seventy barbecued pigs completed," Menchi said.

"He's a monster," Hanzo said. Even though Hanzo was an idiot Shiny Head, Lucy had to agree. He had clearly eaten more than his own body mass… at least twice as much.

"Hunters really are amazing people," Gon said enthusiastically.

"Well, if you want to call that amazing…" Killua said.

"Aren't Epicure Hunters supposed to judge by taste…?" Lucy asked bleakly. This glutton didn't seem to have any taste buds whatsoever…

"You… you're going to say that all the pigs you ate are good?" Menchi asked. "That won't make it a test then!"

"C'mon, it's alright. We were able to decrease the numbers," Buhara replied.

"You're too easy on them… One who is an Epicure Hunter must be honest about taste," Menchi said, sighing. "Oh well. Roasted boar round over! Seventy people pass!"

Relief passed through the crowd at these positive results. Every single person who had managed to find, kill, and cook a boar had passed.

"Now it's my turn," Menchi said, grinning. "I'm not as easy as Buhara. My judgments are going to be strict! Part two of the second exam… my menu is… sushi."

The entire crowd gave her blank stares.

* * *

Hmm... I had a lot of fun imagining the Spiders cooking. I think the only thing I can see Phinks and Ubou cooking are fish over a campfire. If it was Pakunoda I think she'd chop everything up into tiny pieces for some reason. Shizuku would forget what she was cooking and what ingredients she had added. The rest of them... I just can't see them cooking. lol.

Review please~ Con/crit is highly appreciated. What was one good thing and one bad thing about the chapter?


	7. Second Exam 2: Sushi and Boiled Eggs

Thanks to all those who have reviewed me, favorited this story, and/or have alerted it, as well as Cookie Krisp~

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It's the longest one yet, as well as the most awkward. I'm not much of a humorous writer (more of the serious type), but I tried (not until I ran downstairs to beg my sister to write the last scene for me). I think it's okay. My sister laughed. I'm sorry if you don't like it. Lol.

* * *

**Fish x Naganaga-kun x Pants**

_Sushi? Wait… Sushi?_ Lucy thought. _I'm pretty sure that's one of the dishes I made with Nobunaga!_

"Sushi?" the entire crowd seemed to ask. No one knew what that was.

"Looks like you're all troubled," Menchi said smugly. "Well, it's no wonder you don't know. It's a cultural dish from a small island country. I'll give you a hint. Look inside here," she said, gesturing towards the warehouse.

People ran in to check it out. There were sinks, various types of knives, cutting boards, seasonings, and other things supplied. It looked as if each person would have their own miniature kitchen.

"You're going to cook here. The minimum requirements of tools and ingredients are here. And we even provide the rice needed for the sushi. And the biggest hint! I'll only accept pressed sushi. Now it's time to start. The exam ends when I'm full. During that time, you can make as much as you want. Second exam part two… start!"

Nobody seemed to know what sushi was now anymore than they had when Menchi had first mentioned it. Most of them were examining their supplies, trying to figure out what they could possibly be used for. Lucy caught a smirk on Hanzo's face. He was the only one who seemed to know what it was.

As the kitchenette's were set up in order by the numbers on each examinee's number plate, Lucy's kitchenette was right next to Killua's. From what she could tell, Killua didn't have the slightest idea what sushi was. Maybe she would tell him what it was later…

Lucy thought back to the time when she and Nobunaga had made the sushi. She hadn't been travelling with him for ages. The last time they had made sushi together was… when? She might have been five at the time. If she remembered correctly, the first ingredient she needed was fish. Oh god. Why did it have to be fish...

"Lucy, you know anything about this 'sushi?'" Killua asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"What is it?"

"Wait, wait. Stop," Lucy said. "If you want information, I want payment."

"Payment?"

"Yeah. Come with me."

* * *

Killua had waded into the river, and Lucy sat beside it, watching him. She needed him to catch a fish for her. Fish were okay once they were dead. Before that, they were slippery and slimy and floppy and and and…. Yuck. Lucy did not like fish.

"I never would have expected the Mop Head to have to ask for help 'cause she was so squeamish," Killua teased.

"Hmph. Maybe I won't tell you how to make sushi after all, Gray Hair," she said. She hadn't asked for help. She was simply making him pay her back for the information. As if she'd need his help.

"Oh? Then I guess I should just let this fish go then," he said, holding up the fish he'd just caught.

"Go ahead and fail then," she said, turning away from him.

"You'll fail too, since you obviously don't want to touch a fish," he said.

She turned to glare at him when she noticed he wasn't in the middle of the river anymore, but rather right in front of her face. Holding a fish. A live, slippery, slimy, floppy fish. Lucy screamed, batting it with her hand.

"Get it away from me!"

"Heh," Killua said, not moving an inch. "Knew it."

"You jerk!" Lucy shouted. She felt blood rushing to her face. Damn him. She definitely wasn't going to tell him anything now.

Killua laughed at her, throwing the fish onto the river bank. By now, her face was hot and flushed. She turned away to hide it.

"Lucy's afraid of a fish!" Killua taunted. "Lucy's afraid of a fish!"

Lucy buried her face in her arms. No way would that jerk get to see her in this state. No way. No. Way. In. Hell.

Suddenly, a stampede of examinees bolted towards the river. Lucy sighed in relief. Saved.

* * *

Once they got back to the warehouse and Lucy had slapped Killua in the face, Lucy explained to Killua that pressed sushi was rice mixed with vinegar with raw fish on top. However, typical sushi was made with saltwater fish, but they were required to make this sushi with freshwater fish. They were going to have to improvise.

The fish Killua had gotten for Lucy was a rusty orange, flat, had three horns, four flippers, yellow spots, and big, fat, blue lips. To anyone other than her, it would have been disgusting. But in Lucy's mind, this was revenge. This fish might have been slippery and slimy, but it wasn't alive or floppy. Time for payback.

She pulled out a knife, staring the fish down. She was going to do this Naganaga-style – the way Nobunaga did it. She closed her eyes, remembering the precise slicing motions Nobunaga had used while cutting the fish into perfectly shaped pieces for the pressed sushi. It had been awhile since she had called him Naganaga-kun instead of Nobunaga, but Lucy remembered standing on her tiptoes to look over the kitchen counter where Naganaga-kun had been artfully slicing the fish. She knew she could do it.

In the distance, she heard someone saying, "The shape is essential! To be pressed sushi, it's gotta look like pressed sushi! Nothing less!"

Shape wouldn't be a problem. Naganaga-kun had made beautiful pressed sushi. They had looked great and tasted great. She envisioned Naganaga's knife-work once more. She took a deep breath. She could do this.

* * *

When Lucy opened her eyes, Killua looked horrified, her knife was gone, and her fish was sliced just the way she had imagined.

"Who just threw a knife at me?" Menchi screamed. A knife now protruded from the far wall. Lucy was confused. Who, indeed? Wait, wasn't that the knife she was just using?

Lucy turned towards Killua. "How'd my knife end up over there?" she asked.

"Are you trying to kill me and the examiner…?" Killua asked grimly.

"No, why?" Lucy asked.

"That knife…" he was all he said. Lucy still couldn't figure out why Killua – not just the examiner – looked like he had had a knife thrown at him.

"Hm?" she asked.

"… Never mind," he said.

"If you say so…" Lucy said, although she was still curious. She wouldn't worry about it though.

"You're all hopeless! Pathetic! No observational skills, no imagination, and _worse _– no style!" Menchi screamed at the top of her lungs. Lucy turned her attention to the examiner again.

Hanzo was now approaching her confidently, holding out his platter. "Not _all_ of us," he said. "Here! Actual sushi!"

"Hmm… Now we're talking," she said, seeming interested. Using her chopsticks (Lucy knew what they were since Nobunaga had told her), Menchi picked up the sushi and put it in her mouth. Hanzo watched her expectantly.

"Nope, no good!" Menchi said. "Do it again."

"What?" Hanzo shouted. "What do you mean? Pressed sushi is just rice molded into a bite-sized oblong shape dabbed with wasabi with a slice of fish slapped on top! It's an easy dish! And it tastes the same no matter who makes it!" Then he slowed down a moment and realized that he had just revealed what pressed sushi was to all of the examinees. "…Oops… um… err…" he said uneasily.

"_Easy_? Tastes the _same_?" Menchi muttered. She grabbed his shirt collar and shouted, "DON'T FOOL AROUND WITH ME, YOU BASTARD! IT'S SAID YOU NEED TEN YEARS OF TRAINING TO MAKE PRESSED SUSHI PROPERLY! EVEN IF YOU AMATEURS CAN MAKE THE SHAPE LOOK SIMILAR, THE TASTE IS VERY DIFFERENT! IDIOT!"

"Then don't make it the topic for the test!" Hanzo objected.

"Shut up! Got a problem? Huh? Wanna die?" Menchi demanded.

After watching that spectacle, Lucy returned to preparing her sushi. Of course Hanzo got it wrong. Nobunaga never made pressed sushi in an oblong shape. Carefully shaping the rice, Lucy added a small bit of wasabi and placed the slice of fish on top. Done!

Patiently, Lucy stood in line behind the rest of the mob that had surrounded Menchi. When it was Gon's turn, she said, "No, you pressed it too hard. The rice is too hard and won't break apart."

"Menchi…" Buhara said. "That's a little too strict."

"You be quiet!" she screamed at him. Lucy was beginning to get the feeling that this girl liked to do that.

When it was Number 53's turn, she said, "The way you sliced the fish is totally wrong."

For 301, she said, "The shape of the rice is bad. Do it again."

For Tonpa, she said, "You made it too slowly. Your body warmth is on the fish."

Then she just continued in that manner until it was finally Lucy's turn. She knew she had gotten it right. Within the Spiders, she was the second best at cooking, after Nobunaga. She couldn't possibly have gone wrong. She presented Menchi with her platter.

Menchi stared at it. And stared at it. And stared at it. The pressed sushi was cut into a gorgeous cherry blossom. Then she yelled, "AFTER 294 BLURTED OUT THE SHAPE YOU _STILL _GOT IT WRONG? STUUUPPPIIIIIIIID!"

"Is that so?" Lucy said, glowering at her.

"YEAH! STUUUUPPPPPIIIIIIIIID!"

Lucy went to go sit in the corner. Anybody who looked over at her wouldn't have thought it far off if it started raining over there.

"I'm sorry, Naganaga-kun…" she muttered, drawing circles on the floor. "I failed you…"

She emitted such a dreary aura that no one would go near her.

A few minutes later, Menchi poured herself a cup of tea. After taking a sip, she sighed. "That's it! I'm full now!" she announced. Not a single person had passed.

* * *

"Is this for real?" Leorio asked. "Everyone fails?"

"This is stupid," Killua said.

"No way…" Gon said disappointedly. "The Exam ends because of this?"

Menchi was yelling into her cell phone. "Like I said, it doesn't matter. Just report it to the committee. …NO! The result is the result. I won't redo it."

"She's got to be kidding," Tonpa said in disbelief.

"This is a joke," one man said.

"Yeah, we failed because of a stupid cooking test?" another man said angrily. "What kind of decision was this?"

"Anyways," Menchi continued. "My decision won't change. The number of people who passed the Second Exam is zero."

Number 255, the wrestler, punched one of the kitchenettes. "I'm not convinced about this," he said. "I can't just say, 'okay,' and leave! I'm not here to butcher fish and mush rice! I'm here to become a hunter! A Black-List Hunter at that! I'm saying that a mere Epicure Hunter deciding who passes and who fails is unconvincing!"

"A mere Epicure Hunter?" Menchi asked menacingly.

"Yeah! A Hunter who eats good food and lounges all day? Don't make me laugh!"

Lucy wondered what would come of this scene, but she absolutely would not fail. Phinks would only laugh at her more if she failed in a cooking test. And only at the second exam at that. She knew she was feeling just as frustrated as any of the other applicants, and it would make no difference if she lost her head. Walking out of the warehouse to cool her head, she ran into the blond haired guy who she had originally thought was a girl.

"You're Kurapica, right?" she asked. "How come you're out here?"

"Probably the same reason as you," Kurapica said, sitting down against the warehouse's wall.

"Calming down?"

"Yeah."

"How come you want to be a Hunter?" Lucy asked, remembering that she had asked Killua the same question back on the canoe. The way these applicants were getting so riled up… it suggested that some people had deeper reasons for becoming Hunters than Killua's.

He looked up at her, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to say. Instead of answering her question, he said, "I take it that you're Killua's friend?"

She thought for a moment and then nodded. Even if Killua could be a real jerk, she supposed they were friends. She had just as much fun with him as she did with the Spiders, after all.

"I want to be a Black-List Hunter," Kurapica said, looking out into the distance. "I want revenge on the people who killed my entire clan… the Spiders."

Lucy blinked. Revenge… on the Spiders? Impossible. And this guy didn't have nen. He thought he could match up to the Spiders? He clearly didn't know his limits. But then again, all Black-List Hunters were like that. Weak. Pathetic. Overestimating their own abilities. Underestimating their enemies'. "You'll die, you know," Lucy said. "As if the Spiders would lose to you."

For a second, Lucy thought she saw his eyes flash red before he closed them. "Perhaps," he said. "But if it was for my clan…"

Lucy didn't understand. Was he so stupid that he was going to die facing the Spiders, knowing that was exactly what would happen? It was obvious that no one could kill the twelve-legged spider… Its legs could rarely even be scratched by those who thought they were its predators, only to find out that they were really the prey.

Hearing the sound of a blimp, Lucy and Kurapica looked up. "Isn't failing everyone a bit too harsh?" a voice from the blimp asked. The examinees, as well as Menchi, came outside to see what was going on.

"The Hunter Association Logo!" the crowd shouted. "It's the judging committee!"

Lucy squinted at the blimp, trying to get a better look. A tiny speck seemed to be falling from it. At first she could barely see it, but as it got closer, she realized it was a man. He fell from the sky, like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Somehow, even after falling a good sixty feet from the sky, his landing was elegant.

"Pre-President…" Menchi said, shocked.

* * *

Lucy, Gon, Killua, Kurapica, Leorio, as well as the rest of the applicants, soon found themselves at a totally new location. They had gone from the swamp to make sushi to a mountain to make boiled eggs.

Upon his impressive arrival, President Netero had asked Menchi to reconsider her decision of failing everybody. He gently reprimanded her, reminding her of her duties as an examiner, and suggested that she retest the examinees with a different test when she proposed making boiled eggs. That was how the examinees all found themselves staring down into a seemingly endless ravine.

"Here we are," Menchi said. "This is the deepest ravine in these parts. There's a fast river at the bottom that'll whisk you right out to sea," she explained as she took off her boots. Then she jumped right off the cliff.

"Whoa!" the examinees shouted in surprise. None of them expected to have a suicidal examiner. Lucy wondered what Menchi was up to.

"What does she think she's doing?" one man exclaimed.

"She's dead!" another shouted.

"Hohohohoho," President Netero laughed. "Hardly. The spider eagle lives here. She just dove into their nesting area. They spin webs across the ravine to hang their eggs on, so land beasts can't reach them. All you have to do is grab a strand, collect an egg, and climb back up."

"…Then," Menchi added, popping up at the top of the gorge. "You boil it."

While a few of the examinees were looking appalled that they were going to have to jump off a cliff, Killua said, "Phew. This is much better."

"I was waiting for these kinds of tests," Gon said.

"This certainly beats cooking!" Leorio said.

"I agree," said Kurapica.

Lucy wasn't sure she liked this test over cooking, but at least now she might not have to get laughed at again by Phinks. She gulped, wishing she had chosen a more suitable nen ability for these types of things. Hers had been useless throughout the entire exam so far. Regardless of that, she wouldn't lose to them. The rest of the candidates were already jumping off the cliff. She followed.

The air rushed passed her face, whipping through her hair. Her stomach flew up to her chest. Her clothes rippled in the wind. Falling, falling, falling, endlessly. The walls of the canyon were now a blur. Some of the examinees had already landed. If they could do it, so could she. She grabbed onto the first thing she could. She was surprised when it came down with her.

Her first thought was that it was the spider eagles' web being pulled down by her weight, so it should bounce back up. But when it didn't, she looked up to see what she had actually grabbed. Killua looked mortified.

It took her a few seconds to process the situation. She felt like a computer… [Processing 10%, Processing 50%, Processing Complete!]. Gon stared at them with his mouth agape. Kurapica looked stunned. Leorio's eyes were wide. Lucy wondered what she should do now. It wasn't everyday that she ended up hanging for her life off of someone's shorts.

Needless to say, if Lucy had accidentally grabbed Killua's shorts, then they most definitely were not in their proper place. Lucy weighed just as much as any other twelve year old girl, and so, naturally, his shorts had come down with her. The good thing was that he was still wearing boxers. The bad thing was that they were now in an extremely awkward situation.

Apparently, Killua didn't know what to say anymore than Lucy did because he just stood there. And neither did anybody else (all the examinees, and even Netero and Menchi were looking by now) did either. Lucy wondered if Killua would tell her to let go of his shorts. But if she let go, then she would fall into the river. Hmm…

"Um… Killua?" she eventually said. Everyone stared.

"…Yes?" He stood like a statue.

"This is awkward."

"Duh…Could you let go?"

"No. I'll die."

"Oh yeah."

"…So can you help me up?"

"…Yeah."

* * *

After that, Lucy got her spider eagle egg, Killua pulled his pants up, and they all cooked their eggs. Both Lucy and Killua blushed slightly when they looked at each other. After all, she _had_ pulled his pants down. Even if it was a mistake, and, if she didn't, she would have fallen into a river and have been swept into the ocean.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The ending made me feel like I had just finished writing a fable or something. The moral of the story: Sometimes awkward things are necessary (I think?). Hmm...

I feel like I abused Killua in this chapter. First she slapped him, then she almost threw a knife at him, and then she pulled his pants down. I think she got her revenge for getting teased with the fish several times over. Or maybe that was all karma...

I must say, I was constantly giggling while I was writing the scene where Killua is teasing Lucy with the fish and the last scene. The fish scene was a spur of the moment idea. My sis and I came up with the pants scene awhile ago while trying to figure out how a person with no physical ability could possibly make it out of that canyon. I wonder what Shalnark would say if he found out his little sister had done that... Not sure I want to know. But I'm pretty sure Phinks and Nobunaga would laugh. They'd say, "She's growing up!" or something like that. Especially Phinks. I think.

Review please~ Con/crits highly appreciated.


	8. Second Exam 3: On the Blimp

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Special thanks to Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, Cookie Krisp, and AcPa xox ~

* * *

** Zaoldyeck x Mystery Caller x Suspicions**

Forty-two applicants had passed the second exam, all of whom were now on a blimp to the third exam center. The cloud cover was below them, and the clear view of the night sky was gorgeous. Most of the people on the blimp were trying to get what little rest they could before the next exam started. Lucy was staring out the window when her phone rang.

"Hello?" Lucy said, answering it.

"Hey."

"Hi, Shalnark," Lucy said. She knew he was calling for the same reason Phinks was. Kuroro would probably call her for the same reason at some point.

"Where are you? You shouldn't have left Phinks and Feitan behind, you know."

"Flying," she replied, quite truthfully, knowing that Shalnark wouldn't believe her. She was flying in a blimp. Too bad for him if he interpreted it any other way.

"Luelle, there's a reason why we travel in pairs."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lucy said.

"…Must be in your rebellious stage," said Shalnark, sighing.

If it had been anyone other than Shalnark or another Spider, Lucy would have told him that he had never grew out of his rebellious stage, since he was still playing with his cell phone and stealing stuff and killing people. But he was Shalnark, and Shalnark was a Spider, so Lucy decided not to say anything.

"Well, anyways…" Shalnark continued. "All of us are meeting in York Shin on September 9th."

"Okay," Lucy said, feeling excited, rather than slightly spiteful at this point. She hadn't gotten to see Nobunaga or Machi or Kuroro or even Shalnark for awhile. It would be nice to see them again.

"So are you going to tell me where you are?" Shalnark asked again.

Lucy thought for a second, trying to decide if she should tell him or not. It really couldn't hurt, could it? It wasn't like they could do something about it… "Hunter Exam," she said.

"The Hunter Exam?" Shalnark asked. Lucy could tell he had been expecting a variety of replies, just not that one.

"Who are you talking to?" Gon asked, coming up from behind her. Killua was with him. He wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Um…" Lucy said, trying to think of a reply. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to tell Gon and Killua about her relationship with the Spiders. Maybe it was because of what Kurapica had said…

"Lu?" Shalnark asked.

"Bye," Lucy said hastily, shutting off her phone and hiding it behind her back. "Erm… Just my brother."

"Oh really?" Killua said suspiciously.

"Yeah," she said nervously. "What of it?"

"Hmm…Nothing."

The three of them just stood there for awhile, not saying anything. Eventually, they all slid down to the floor. It had been a long day, and none of them wanted to stand anymore. Lucy thought of how it had only been two days since she had met Killua and half a day since she'd met Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio. She and Killua were pretty close already, but she didn't know Gon, Kurapica, or Leorio too well yet. Maybe they would turn out to be as fun to be around as Killua.

"Lucy, why do you want to be a Hunter?" Gon asked, breaking the silence.

"Because I'm not going to lose," Lucy replied. She remembered being asked the same question by Killua, but at that time she had answered, "Proving a point." Oh well. They came out to the same thing. She yawned, then asked, "What about you, Gon?" she asked.

"My dad's a Hunter!" Gon exclaimed. "I want to be like him!"

"Your dad, eh?" Lucy said thoughtfully. She wondered what it was like to have a dad. She didn't remember anything about her and Shalnark's parents… Shalnark had never told her anything about them either. Parents themselves were a mystery to her. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy. She was tired…

On the subject of parents, Lucy remembered that Killua had mentioned his parents at one point when they were walking to Zaban City. "Killua, you said your parents were mass murderers didn't you?"

"Huh?" Killua asked. "Oh, yeah. I did. They're assassins."

"Both of them?" Gon asked.

Killua was quiet for a moment before he started laughing. "You two sure are gullible!" he said. "You really believed that?"

"I really _would_ be gullible if I fell for that," Lucy said, unimpressed. With as much bloodlust as she had felt from Killua when they first met, she was sure that Killua had killed people before, so it made perfect sense that he was from a family of assassins. "Fell for the 'you really believed that?' I mean," she added sleepily.

"Yeah," Gon said. "It's true isn't it?"

Killua obviously hadn't been expecting the replies he got because he had to think a moment before deciding what to say next. "Yeah. I'm part of the Zaoldyeck family. Assassination is our trade."

The Zaoldyeck family? Lucy remembered Kuroro had battled one of them at one point… Although Kuroro had said Silva Zaoldyeck was weaker than him, he was strong and worthy of praise. So Killua was related to Silva Zaoldyeck. That explained why he wasn't as pathetic as the rest of the nen-less candidates.

Killua kept talking, but after that point, Lucy couldn't remember what he was saying. She had heard what he was saying, but she was too drowsy, so none of it managed to register itself in her brain. She thought about the stories she'd tell Shal and Phinks and Naganaga-kun, and the rest of them when she got back…

**

* * *

Killua's PoV

* * *

**

In Killua's mind, this had probably been the strangest day of his life. It had begun with a strange Mop Head complaining that vanilla was way better than chocolate (which obviously wasn't true) and then went to getting slapped in the face, almost getting killed by a knife that Mop Head had accidentally let go of, having her grab his pants instead of the spider eagle's web, and now… ugh. What the hell was this day? Now the crazy Mop Head had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

"Gon," Killua said complacently, pointing to Lucy. "Why can't this dumb Mop Head sleep on you instead of me?"

Gon looked at Killua curiously. "Mito-san says that you should be nice to girls."

"Ugh. Girls are _weird_."

Gon sighed. "Mito-san wouldn't like it if you said – "

Lucy's cell phone rang, cutting him off.

"Do we answer that?" Gon asked.

"I dunno…" Killua said.

It rang again.

"I think we should answer it," Gon said. "If we don't, the person calling might get worried or something."

"Nah," Killua said.

Another ring.

"C'mon, answer it!" Gon said. "It would be rude not to."

Killua sighed. "Fine, fine," he said. Luckily, her cell phone was still in her hand. He did _not_ want to have to dig through her pockets for it.

"Hello?" Killua asked.

"Who the hell are you?" the guy demanded loudly.

"Lucy's friend," Killua answered.

"Lucy?" the guy asked, sounding confused for a moment, but then he seemed to have figured something out. "Oh. Okay," he said.

"She's sleeping," Killua said, wondering who this guy was and why he was bothering to talk to him. "Are you her brother?" he asked, not knowing who else this person could possibly be.

"Hahahahaha," the guy laughed. "Nah. Tell her for me that she'd better show me that license when she gets it."

"Who is it?" Gon whispered. Killua gestured to him to be quiet.

"Oh, and, she should already know, but Fei is still hella mad at her," he continued. "And Boss wants her to call him later. Bye."

Killua had no idea who he had just been talking to, and he was utterly confused.

"Who called?" Gon asked.

"Dunno," Killua replied, putting her cell phone back in her hand. "Mop Head sleeps too much."

"We should probably get some sleep too though, Killua."

"Yeah, yeah," Killua agreed. "Does that mean I'm stuck sleeping here with Mop Head?"

"Well it's not like we have rooms, so we might as well right?"

"Ugh. I don't see why I should."

"Good night, Killua."

* * *

Now that Gon had gone to sleep, he supposed he should go to sleep as well, but found his thoughts preoccupied. Something was bothering him about Lucy. What she had asked him when they first met – "You mean you don't kill with it?" She had been talking about his skateboard, as if she had just assumed that it was normal to go around killing people with any items on hand. And then the way she had asked him if he liked to kill people on the boat. Again, she had done it as if it was a totally normal thing to do. He had asked her if she was scared of him because of his bloodlust. She had asked him if he was joking, as if it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. And who had she been talking to on the phone anyways?

Lucy was definitely hiding something, although he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Judging from the way she talked, she had killed people before. Perhaps just as regularly as he had. At first he hadn't felt it, but as time passed, he eventually began to feel her own aura of bloodlust seeping from her. It was different from his… More like someone who killed for pleasure.

But maybe he was just over thinking things. He should know more than anyone that you can't judge a book by its cover. He was a prime example of that himself. If she really had killed as regularly as him, Killua wondered why she had done so. He wondered what her past had been like… from there, his thoughts wandered. Uneasy nightmares occasionally danced through his thoughts…

* * *

**Lucy's PoV**

* * *

The next morning, Lucy awoke groggily to hear Kurapica and Leorio talking.

"Wow," Leorio said. "That brat sure does move fast."

"I doubt it's like that, Leorio," Kurapica said.

"Hm…?" Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes. "What are you guys talking about?"

"When did you and Killua get together?" Leorio asked, mischievous grin from ear to ear.

"Huh?" Lucy asked, not having the slightest idea what Leorio meant. It was too early…

"See?" said Kurapica.

"Whatever," Leorio said sulkily.

Suddenly, Lucy realized where she had been sleeping. Gon was asleep on the other side of Killua… and…and…and… she had fallen asleep on his shoulder? Oh god. Why this stupid jerk? She would rather have fallen asleep next to Phinks. Who snored all night.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^

Trick Tower coming next chapter~

Review please~ Con/crit highly appreciated =)


	9. Trick Tower 1: Leorio vs The Bald Man

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

Hmm... writing my first battle scene in this chapter~ I can't say it's the most interesting battle in the world, but at least it's something. I hope you like it ^^

Special thanks to Sofia10Soccer, Cookie Krisp, Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox ~

Enjoy~

* * *

**

* * *

Trick Tower x Majority x The Bald Man**

The blimp landed at a tall, cylindrical tower. Since the tower was on a cliff, Lucy could see for miles. Trees surrounded its base, and grotesque birds-like creatures with giant mouths swarmed around it. They looked like something Feitan might draw – if he could draw. Either way, she didn't want to mess with them.

"We are at the top of the Trick Tower," the egg-headed man who had originally passed out the number badges explained. "This is where you enter the third phase. As for the test itself, the examiners have informed me that you have seventy-two hours to reach the base of the tower alive. Good luck!"

The examinees had begun poking around the top of the tower, looking for possible entrances. Slowly but surely, the numbers began to decrease. In no time at all, the number of examinees had decreased by half. In this situation, Shalnark would think that there were multiple entrances to the tower, all of which lead to a different place. Lucy sighed and continued to check the panels.

Throughout the previous exams, she had generally been with Killua, except for when Hisoka had apparently knocked her out and carried her to the second exam center. Come to think of it, she wondered why he had done that, but it wasn't as if he would answer if she asked. And furthermore, she didn't want anything to do with him.

The problem was now she was too embarrassed to be with Killua after the events from yesterday. From the second he woke up to the second they had gotten off the blimp (at which she had run away full speed), he had been teasing her nonstop. She didn't want to deal with it.

The number of examinees who still hadn't found entrances was slim. An hour or two had passed as Lucy had kept trying to force herself to stop thinking about everything from the past two days. It was all Killua's fault that she was so much slower than the other examinees. He was getting in the way of her thinking straight. Shalnark had said to her many times that one had to have a clear head to analyze a situation… but for some reason, she just couldn't do that.

Lucy pressed down on another panel. This one moved, but it auto-locked. Someone had probably already gone down this entrance. She moved on to check another panel.

Killua had said he was from a family of assassins – the Zaoldyecks. She tried to remember what Kuroro and Shalnark had mentioned about them in the past… They would kill anyone for money. They were the elite of the elite. They were rich: they owned an entire mountain. Killua had probably started killing people around the same age she had.

In some ways, they reminded her of her own family. The Spiders would kill anyone who was in the way of their goals or anyone who had something they wanted. And they were most certainly the elite of the elite as well. Nobody could kill the twelve-legged Spider. It was immortal. That was what Lucy firmly believed.

Lucy pressed down on a panel. This one didn't auto-lock. She jumped down.

* * *

She just _had_ to find that particular trapdoor, didn't she? Fate really hated her these days. After going through all that trouble to _avoid_ ending up with him, look where she was now. She was stuck taking the third exam with Gon, Kurapica, and… Leorio. Wait. She saw the other three, so she had assumed Killua was there. But she didn't see him.

"Lucy!" Gon exclaimed happily. "Nice to see you again! How come you ran off earlier?"

"Um… no reason," Lucy lied. She didn't particularly want to tell anyone.

"Urgh…" the floor she was sitting on grunted. "I'm sure it's 'cause…"

Lucy looked down. A person wearing a light purple shirt over a maroon turtle neck was laying face-down beneath her. Hmm… It couldn't be. Her eyes must be deceiving her.

"That's… quite an entrance that you managed to make," Kurapica said uneasily.

"…she was trying to avoid me," the floor finished.

"Lovebirds!" Leorio sung. That, Lucy thought, was super creepy. And wait – he couldn't possibly be talking about…

"What the hell?" the floor shouted. "You've got to be kidding me! Me and the Mop Head?"

Mop Head. Oh joy. So her eyes weren't deceiving her.

"Looks like someone's got a guilty conscience," Leorio said smugly. "I bet you two are connected by a red string of fate…"

"As if!" the floor objected again.

Lucy was currently in shock. For two reasons. Firstly, she had thought she was free of Killua (at the top of the tower), then she thought she was stuck with him again (when she first fell through the trapdoor), then she thought she was free of him again (when she didn't see him), so how…come… he was here? Secondly, what in the world was this talk of "lovebirds"…?

Leorio whistled. "Yeah, yeah, just keep denying it."

"Hey! You useless Mop Head! You say something! And get offa me already!"

"Oh… right," Lucy said, standing up. Then she realized what Killua said. "Wait, you're saying I'm useless?"

"Yes, Mop Head."

"At least I'm more useful than you."

"Oh yeah…" Killua challenged.

"Enough," Kurapica said irritably. "This is the Path of Majority Rules. We have to find our way down the tower by vote of the majority. Put on one of these wristbands. It's got a timer, marking how much time we have left, as well as an 'X' and an "O' button."

"Oh, okay," Lucy said, taking the wristband Kurapica handed her. Just as she accepted the wrist band, a door appeared on the other side of the room. They began their seventy-two hour journey down the tower…

* * *

They had barely gone a few feet when they were faced with their first vote. It was as simple as: "Open this door? O Yes. X No."

From there it continued with the rather pointless voting.

"Which way? O Right. X Left."

"Up or down? O Up. X Down."

"Stairs or elevator? O Stairs. X Elevator."

"Boulders or spikes? O Boulders. X Spikes."

And it went on like that. Lucy could have sworn the next thing they would ask was, "Apples or Bananas? O Apples. X Bananas. But then again, she wouldn't have been surprised if it was, "Cake or Pie? O Cake. X Pie."

"This is getting annoying…" Leorio said wearily after perhaps the twentieth vote.

"The next thing they'll ask us will probably be "Chocolate or Vanilla? O Chocolate. X Vanilla," Killua said.

"Yeah, really…" Lucy agreed. She imagined the Spiders taking this test. If Kuroro was with them, they'd all listen to him. If Shalnark was there, they'd be flipping an awful lot of coins. If neither of them was there, they'd … Lucy wondered what they'd do.

* * *

Eventually, they came across a large empty room with a platform in the center. The platform stood on a rectangular base, around which was nothing but a depthless pit, probably reaching all the way to the bottom of the tower. That was certainly one way to get to the bottom of the tower… but anyone who tried it would be dead. Except for maybe Netero or the Spiders.

There was another entrance on the other side of the room where there were five people veiled in gray cloth. All of them were handcuffed, except for the one whose cuffs now clattered to the stone floor. Taking off the upper half of his outfit, it was revealed that he was a bald man with scars decorating his scalp. Large muscles stretched his clothing. He grinned.

"The Committee has selected us as your taskmasters!" the man shouted across the room. "You five will have to challenge the five of us! We will battle one-on-one, each person going only once! Decide for yourselves the order you will go in. Win the majority of the matches – best of five – and you may pass! There are no draws. The rules of combat are simple – fight any way that suits you! You win if the opponent is unconscious, dead, or admits defeat! Will you accept the challenge? Vote now! 'O' for yes and 'X' for no!"

Lucy thought he sounded an awful lot like an advertiser. She sighed and pressed 'O,' as did Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio. The vote was unanimous at 5 – 0.

Upon that vote, the bald man shouted that he would fight the first battle. Gon said that he would fight first, but Kurapica argued that Gon wouldn't have a chance against those muscles.

"If he takes away your weapon, you're dead!" Leorio warned Kurapica. "I'll go."

**

* * *

The Bald Man's PoV

* * *

**

The bald man confidently walked across the thin bridge that connected the platform he had been on and the platform in the center. He wore a smile on his face – he could tell that the tall black-haired man he was facing had been daunted by his muscles. He was covered in a cold sweat.

The bald man, as well as the rest of the people on his team, was a prisoner facing an extremely long prison sentence. For every hour he held the opposing team up, his prison sentence was shortened a year. And since that was so, he already knew how he was going to take care of his opponent. He would start by crushing his larynx.

The black-haired man gritted his teeth but held out his hand. Although the bald man was a bit surprised at this gesture, he decided to take it. He could use this to his advantage.

"Good luck," the black-haired man said.

"Same to you," the bald man said, shaking the other man's hand. Then he whipped the black-haired man into the air and threw him against the ground.

**

* * *

Leorio's PoV

* * *

**

Leorio knew that the bald man was dangerous. He was probably an ex-mercenary, judging by his appearance. Even so, he hadn't been expecting to be attacked right after that handshake.

His brain was foggy; his eyes were unfocused. He had hit his head hard against the concrete of the floor – he probably had a concussion. Leorio coughed, trying to breathe. The wind had been knocked out of him. This was not good. He needed to get away from this ex-mercenary. Despite how disoriented he now was, Leorio scrambled to his feet.

**

* * *

The Bald Man's PoV

* * *

**

The bald man watched in amusement as his prey desperately ran away from him. How futile. It wouldn't take long before the black-haired man was trapped in a corner. He might even be so unsteady that he just fell right off the platform. But the best outcome for him if he wanted to reduce his prison sentence, so he slowly jogged towards the man.

Sprinting towards him would have been fine too, but he didn't want to terrify the man anymore than he already had. The man was now running treacherously close to the edge of the platform. If he fell off, it was all over. Approaching him more slowly would hopefully give the man enough time to think that he wouldn't make any rash actions.

Now that he was coming closer, he slowed to a walk. The black-haired man glanced over his shoulder as if he wanted to take a step back but realized there was nowhere to run. Of course, the man was probably contemplating whether or not to give up now. It was the perfect timing after all. But by the time he had weighed his options and chosen the smarter one – giving up – it would be too late.

But then the bald man noticed something odd about the black-haired man's expression. Rather than fear, it was confidence…

**

* * *

Leorio's PoV

* * *

**

Leorio stood on the edge of the platform. His breathing was shaky and his legs unstable, but he had managed to grab hold of one of the torches, so he was doing okay.

3…

The ex-mercenary, who had been walking towards him a second ago, apparently did not want to give Leorio the time to think because he was no longer walking towards him but charging. His expression was eager. Eager for the slow torturing of his victim.

2…

But Leorio wasn't going to be the victim.

1.

The bald man suddenly doubled over in pain. When he had shaken his hand, Leorio had been holding a small needle between his fingers that had pricked the bald guy's hand. The needle contained a poison that caused excruciating pain.

"I'll give you the antidote if you give up," Leorio said.

The bald man glared up at him, glaring. Leorio saw the menace in the man's eyes, but also knew the man realized he couldn't do a thing about his condition.

"You'll die if I don't give it to you."

The bald man coughed. The pain the poison was causing was clearly apparent. The man could barely speak, let alone move.

"F-fine," the man sputtered. Leorio grinned. So the man had realized that he didn't have a choice – he could die here and lose, or he could accept the antidote and live. "I-I give up."

Even though he had been stammering when he told Leorio to give him the antidote, Leorio knew it was not because he was scared. That was the best he could talk with that poison ravaging throughout his system. It was fast-acting and vicious, perfect for torturing victims. Of course Leorio hadn't brought it for that purpose (he had been trying to make an antidote from it), but it had served him well, regardless. But he had lied about it being able to kill the man. It could only torture – not kill.

* * *

I wonder if Leorio was acting a bit OOC in this chapter. But then again, I'd like to argue with Yoshihiro Togashi about Leorio who really doesn't have much of a personality to begin with and just seems to exist for the other character's to make fun of. For example, at one point, Senritsu refers to Leorio as, "The nicest guy in the city." He also wants to become a doctor so that he could save lives and not have to ask for any money. I don't think that he would act as he does with Lelute (sacrifice time just because he wants check if Lelute is really a woman). If he's willing to go so far as to become a Hunter for his dream of becoming a doctor, it doesn't make sense that he'd give it all up for something so petty. Furthermore, Leorio acts stupid a lot, but I don't think he really is. In the anime, when Gon tells Leorio that the Great Stamp is weak to a blow to the head, Leorio immediately realizes that he needs to immobilize it first, and thus, pulls a vine to trip it.

But anyways, while I don't see Leorio as the type of guy to torture someone, I think he would do it if it was for the purpose of becoming a doctor and to help his friends. He really wouldn't choose to sabotage his friends just to check Lelute.

Sorry for the long author's note. If you happen to disagree with me on the matter, do feel free to voice your opinions. I just thought I would try to give Leorio the spotlight for once.

How was the battle scene?

Review please~ Con/crit is highly appreciated =)


	10. Trick Tower 2: Gon vs Lelute

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

I apologize for all the changes in point of view since I know they're annoying. I must say that I get quite annoyed when people constantly switch point of view on me... but I'm clearly a hypocrite since I'm doing it myself. Also, at the request of my sister, I don't have the changes of PoV labeled in this chapter. I got told to "be professional" and not label them, since they aren't labeled in books.

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox, 1412 karasu~

The title of this chapter reminds me of Kingdom Hearts... but no, sadly, Kingdom Hearts has nothing to do with this story.

* * *

**Lelute x Lie x Heartless**

Leorio walked off the field triumphantly after administering the antidote to the bald man. There was an air of confidence in his step. Lucy looked at the way he was walking off the field and decided he was even stupider than she had thought he was. Yes, using the poison was smart. But there was no point in leaving the man alive. He should have just killed him.

That said, the next opponent unveiled herself – a fox-faced woman with green eyes and reddish hair tied into pigtails. Although Lucy didn't think it was particularly odd that their opponent was a girl, it seemed as if Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapica did.

"Can I face her?" Gon asked.

"Sure," Leorio said.

"You guys are pathetic," Lucy sneered as Gon walked onto the field.

"What was that?" Leorio shouted.

"You're pathetic," Lucy repeated, shrugging.

"How so, you stupid Mop Head?" Killua demanded irritably.

"You all think she's weak, just 'cause she's a girl," Lucy said. They probably thought she was weak too. How pitiable.

"Do you see any muscle on her that I'm not seeing or something?" Leorio shouted, angrily pointing towards her.

"You clearly have the intelligence of a fish," Lucy said. This woman could easily be use a similar strategy to Leorio's. Strength wasn't everything in battle. Shalnark had emphasized that point to her on many occasions. "Ever heard of strategy? You were using it just a lil' while ago."

* * *

Gon happily pranced onto the platform in the center of the room, and the lady smiled at him. Gon wasn't sure what to think of this girl, but she didn't give off any particularly disturbing chills, like Hisoka did. On that note, he had felt similar chills from Lucy and Killua at times… He knew why he felt them from Killua but wondered why he got them from Lucy as well. But either way, it seemed this lady wasn't a killer.

**

* * *

**

Lelute had been observing all of the people on the other team since they had walked in to the room. She could tell that the tall black-haired man valued his friends but often made rash decisions. The blond haired girly guy also valued his friends, but he was more cool-headed than the tall black-haired man. The silver-haired boy looked tricky and whimsical… but there was something about him that bugged her.

It was the same for the auburn-haired girl. Although she seemed like a normal kid at first glance, she was somehow eerie. When the black-haired man had said he had given the bald man a deadly poison, the girl's expression had seemed completely uncaring, as did the silver-haired boy's. The short boy with the fishing rod had looked a little worried. But then, when the black-haired man had given the bald man the antidote, the auburn-haired girl seemed to frown. In contrast, the silver-haired boy still didn't seem to care, and the fishing rod boy looked relieved.

Lelute was glad that she hadn't gotten the silver-haired boy or the auburn-haired girl as an opponent. They would be harder to ensnare in her psychological traps. But she had gotten lucky – her opponent was the fishing rod boy. Out of the group, he was definitely the most naïve and innocent. Lelute knew exactly how to take advantage of that.

**

* * *

**

"So," Gon asked. "How are we going to fight?"

The lady sorrowfully lowered her eyes to the floor.

"What's wrong, Onee-san?" Gon asked, forgetting his original question.

"I… I don't really want to fight," the lady replied in a meek voice. She coughed painfully.

"You don't?" Gon asked, confused. How was he supposed to fight someone who didn't want to fight him?

"I'm scared…" the lady said, collapsing to her knees and holding her head. "They… they…" the lady coughed again, more violently this time. "They… my family… they…"

"Your family?" Gon asked. What had happened to this lady's family?

"I… I just wanted to help them," she said, her voice quivering. "I didn't know things would end up like this…"

Gon didn't know what was wrong with this lady or what had happened to her, but she didn't seem like a bad person. "What happened?" he asked.

**

* * *

**

Lucy was totally unimpressed by the fox-girl's lie. In fact, Lucy had thought that the only place such far-fetched sob stories happened was soap operas. She couldn't believe Gon was falling for it. Gon was far too gullible. It was probably a miracle he hadn't been offered a lollipop by a random creeper and gotten kidnapped.

Sob, sob, cry, cry, whine, whine, cough, cough. Even if the fox-girl's lie was the oldest and most cliché lie in the book, she had read Gon well enough to know that it would work. Shalnark had warned her that the most obvious lie to one person may seem like an absolute truth to another. If a person was sly… conniving… cunning enough, they could see through which lies a person would and would not believe. This woman was quite the actress, with all those crocodile tears that she cried.

"Gon!" Killua shouted. "Don't fall for it! She's lying!"

So Killua had caught on too? Well it wasn't a huge surprise… he seemed to be pretty quick to catch on to things. Kurapica, on the other hand, was biting his lip nervously, as if he recognized that the fox-girl was lying but wanted to believe that she was telling the truth. How silly. Maybe he was overly vulnerable to stupid lies like this because of the slaughter of his clan… Who was his clan anyways? Lucy couldn't recall him telling her. Oh well.

Hmm… Lucy glanced over towards Leorio, who was staring at the fox-girl intensely, as if he was analyzing her. He looked worried and anxious. She wondered if he was feeling that way because he was falling for her lie or because Gon was falling for her lie. She seriously doubted it was the latter. This guy seemed to be decent at coming up with his own plans, but he couldn't see through another person's lie for his life.

"It's alright!" Gon shouted in reply to Killua. "I don't think Onee-san is lying!"

…Which was exactly why Killua had been trying to tell him that the fox-girl was indeed doing just that.

* * *

The lady wept as she told Gon about how her family had been poor, so she had been stealing to get food for them. One day, someone saw her while she was stealing something. She was too scared. She didn't know what to do. While trying to simply knock him out so that she could get away, she accidentally killed him. A few days later, a Black-List Hunter came to arrest her.

"It's okay, Onee-san," Gon comforted her, wondering what he should do about his situation. "Just give up if you don't want to fight."

"But but…" the lady said tearfully. "The other prisoners said they'd kill me if I did that…"

"Hmm…" Gon thought. He really didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, the lady was coughing furiously. She covered her mouth with her hand. Her face was distorted with pain.

"Onee-san?" Gon asked. "Onee-san?"

"I – " the lady began. Then she collapsed, her hand falling away from her mouth. Blood was splattered across it…

Gon stared at her in disbelief. What could he do for her?

"Leorio!" Gon shouted urgently.

"I'm on it!" Leorio said. "Open the bridge!"

Nothing happened.

"C'mon! Open it! This is a matter of saving someone's life!"

"Vote for it!" the ex-mercenary shouted. "Choose 'O' to let him treat her and 'X' to leave her! If you choose 'O' though, twenty hours will be deducted from your time, and you will forfeit the match!"

Gon looked back at his friends. They would certainly choose to save this lady right? They couldn't just leave her there…

* * *

"You guys aren't seriously considering pressing 'O' are you?" Lucy asked incredulously.

Killua sighed. He was frustrated that Gon wouldn't believe him. "That girl's faking," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Leorio yelled. "This isn't the time for that!"

"I agree," Kurapica said. "There's a slim chance that that girl's telling the truth… What if she dies because we choose not to believe her?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't see why it would matter to me if she died or not."

"What's wrong with you?" Leorio demanded. "Do you not see the value of human life?"

"I simply don't see why I should care about someone who isn't part of my family. Someone who I don't even know."

"How can you be so heartless?" Kurapica asked quietly.

Killua stood there, staring at the floor. If that was 'heartless' then…

"'Heartless,' you say?" Lucy asked coldly. "Nah. I'm just not as goody-goody as you guys."

"But that girl might be innocent!" Kurapica objected.

_So what?_ Killua wanted to say. Passing the exam was so important to Gon, Leorio, and Kurapica. Why would they lower their own chances of passing for the slim chance that the girl was actually telling the truth?

"Why should it matter to me?" Lucy asked smugly.

All Lucy was doing was voicing exactly what his thoughts were… he had been killing all his life. He was the son of the Zaoldyeck family. What was the big deal about the life of a single person that he didn't even know?

It wasn't a big deal. He was raised to kill people after all…a natural born killing machine.

"Grr…" Leorio growled at Lucy.

No. No! It wasn't like that. Killua didn't want to be that way… That was why he had run away. He had wanted to escape that kind of lifestyle. That kind of lifestyle where he would kill anyone for money. That kind of lifestyle where someone else controlled what he would do. He didn't want that…

"The more we argue, the more that girl's life ticks away," Kurapica said, bringing Killua back to reality.

"Damn it," Leorio cursed. "This isn't the time for this…"

Lucy glared at him irritably. "Whatever," she said.

They all placed their votes.

**

* * *

**

Lucy pressed 'X' even though she knew it was futile. Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio would all be voting for 'O'. She had wondered what Killua had voted for, until the vote came up 4 – 1. She had thought that at least he, who understood that the girl was lying, would have voted with her.

Not that it mattered. Even if Killua had voted with her, they would have still been the minority. Lucy sat against the wall. It wasn't just Gon – every single one of them, except maybe Killua, was naïve and ignorant. To be fooled by such a transparent lie so as to waste twenty hours… how pathetic.

If she had been with the Spiders, they would all have agreed with her. None of them would have chosen 'O' in that vote… they wouldn't even have proposed the idea of helping the girl. They weren't like these people, who couldn't even grasp some of the more basic concepts of life: Do whatever you can for friends and family, but it wasn't worth it to do things for people you didn't even know. Friends and family were more important than anything. A stranger – like that girl – was worthless.

Shortly after that, Leorio was cursing again, saying that the girl really had been lying… They had lost twenty hours of time for no reason.

* * *

Okay, I gotta say... everyone was way too gullible. But I made Leorio win, so someone else had to lose. I can't go around having everyone winning... that would be boring D; Sorry!

If anyone wants me to label the changes of PoV again, don't be afraid to tell me so.

Review please~ Con/crit is highly appreciated =)


	11. Trick Tower 3: Lucy vs Majitani

Hmm... Another short chapter. I'm not too good at writing battle scenes... I wonder if these recent chapters have been okay O_o...

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, 1412 karasu, AcPa xox, and Snowy-Sonya~

* * *

**Majitani x Bluff x Real**

_The small girl looked up at the tall guy standing next to her, and then to the scene in front of them. Kuro-chan was battling a silver-haired man… he seemed to be quite strong. Even though he was so rarely injured, this time Kuro-chan was wounded. Blood dripped from a large gash across his shoulder. But the girl didn't doubt that Kuro-chan would win. Kuro-chan always won._

_Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another man struggling to his feet. Like the silver-haired man, this man had been employed by the government to try and kill them. Unlike the silver-haired man, he was weak. He hadn't even been able to last a minute against Kuro-chan. She wondered why the man even bothered to stand up. It would have been smarter to play dead._

_The silver-haired man was also wounded – but far more so than Kuro-chan. Kuro-chan was only bleeding from his shoulder… this man was simply drenched in his only blood. Kuro-chan summoned a long spear… Oh, it was that one that extended until it pierced through someone. _

_The other man suddenly came running towards Kuro-chan and the silver-haired man. Just as the spear extended towards the silver-haired man, the other man took the blow. Blood spurted from the wound. He died instantly._

"_Man," the tall guy standing next to her complained. "That was so overdramatic."_

"_Stupid," said the shorter, black-clad one. He was standing on the other said of her. "We leave now. This boring."_

"_Yeah," the tall guy said. "I'm bored."_

"_Oh, c'mon guys," the girl's brother said. "Isn't it a tiny bit interesting?"_

"_Nah," the tall guy said. "I'm not interested in watching some guy die a worthless death for someone he doesn't even know. Even if he stopped that blow, Boss can still kill the other guy."_

"_Yeah, but I don't think Boss will," the girl's brother said. "The other guy's death would have ruined the fun."_

_As it turned out, the girl's brother was right. Kuro-chan had decided to fulfill the dead man's wish… to let the silver-haired man live. Kuro-chan said that the other man had died because he was ignorant. The silver-haired man never would have tried to save him. In fact, if the silver-haired man had been strong enough, he would have stabbed right through the other man in order to kill Kuro-chan. The man had left whatever friends and family he had had behind for the silver-haired man, who couldn't care less about him._

_Do anything for your friends and family. Do nothing for those who aren't. It was okay to do anything to someone you didn't know, but never betray your friends and family. The dead man had gone so far as to die for a stranger, and, in turn, betrayed his friends and family in his death._

_

* * *

_

Lucy was shaken from her thoughts as the next contester made his way onto the field… He was a big, ugly, man. The center of his head was bald and had more scars than the ex-mercenary's. His nose was missing, and his left eye was red and swollen. Teeth were scattered throughout his mouth and some weird device was connected to one side of his head. Perhaps the worst part though was the nineteen heart-shaped tattoos on his chest, which he claimed represented the nineteen people he had killed. He looked incredibly stupid.

"Can I battle this guy?" Lucy asked. She was annoyed after the argument during the fox-girl's battle. She had been right. It was obvious that she was right. And they had still refused to listen to her. This match would be a good chance to vent… losing her temper was one of the things Shalnark warned that she should never do.

"Yeah, sure," Leorio said dejectedly. Lucy could tell that he was angry about the argument too. After all, he had been proven wrong.

"Good," she replied. She walked onto the field.

* * *

The ugly man's name was Majitani. He smirked… his opponent was a tiny little girl. She had long auburn hair, wavy at the ends, and pale green eyes, as well as long eyelashes and pale skin. She wore a sea green shirt over a pink shirt with long, flowing sleeves and black shorts. On her back was a small backpack and on her hands, a pair of fingerless gloves. But her face… her face was that of a doll… fragile and easily broken. Majitani knew this opponent would fall for his deception. She was an innocent little girl after all…

"So you've only killed nineteen people?" the girl asked.

"Haha! _Only _nineteen? You still know nothing of the world, child."

"You sure about that, Ugly?" she asked.

So she wasn't scared of him yet? Okay, then. "I can't get excited unless we risk our lives…" Majitani continued. "I won't accept any childish fight… Give me blood, guts, and a look of twisted pain on your face!"

"Hmm…" the girl said. The expression on her face was no longer so innocent. "That sounds pretty interesting. But I won't be giving you anything, you know."

This girl certainly had some nerve. "So you accept a match to the death?" Majitani asked.

"Well, yeah. There's no way that you could beat me anyways."

Still confident? She wouldn't be after she had seen his two aces… his right hand and his back.

* * *

"This could get bad… serial killers now?" Leorio asked. "She shouldn't fight him. She'll die."

"Yeah?" Killua said. He wanted to see her battle. See what she was really like. See if his suspicions had some truth to them…

"I don't think that guy will be too much trouble," Gon said, perking up. He had been upset about his battle, so he hadn't said anything until now.

Gon was right. This guy obviously hadn't killed anybody before… but he still wanted to see how Lucy would deal with him.

* * *

Now it was time to play his biggest bluff. Majitani lept into the air, punching the floor. His knuckles were implanted with steel. There was nobody who wasn't intimidated by them… especially when they were combined with the tattoo on his back… the twelve-legged spider!

Just as he had suspected, this time the girl's expression changed. But something was odd. Rather than fear-struck eyes, they were bloodthirsty and malevolent… And what was this pressure? It wasn't she who was terrified of him but he who was terrified of her.

When she had first walked on the field, the girl's eyes had been clear and depthless… but now the clarity of her pale green eyes was becoming murky with the intent to kill. She took a step towards him.

Majitani tried to run, but there was nowhere to go.

* * *

Killua's eyes widened. He felt a cold sweat coming upon him. This feeling… it was the same feeling of dread he sometimes felt when he was near his brother. Who was causing it? He couldn't see Lucy anymore – the ugly man was standing in front of her. What was happening?

Then the man collapsed. Crimson stained the floor where his corpse lay.

* * *

"What did she say to him, Bendotto…?" Lelute asked the bald man, shocked. But what she really wanted to know what happened. None of it made sense. Blades had materialized on the back of the girl's gloves. Then she seemed to whisper something to him before stabbing him through. Normally, nobody would have been able to hear what she had said, but Bendotto had installed a listening device (that also functioned as a voice transmitter) in the weird device in the side of Majitani's head. "What did she say to him right before she stabbed him?"

Bendotto was also stunned. "That girl…" he began.

"That girl?" she asked.

"She… I saw her take off her left glove… she showed him the back of her hand… then she said, 'I'm the real one… my number: zero.'"

* * *

Lucy casually returned to their side of the field. That Majitani guy had been even more annoying than the argument with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio… He had been so incredibly weak, and yet he had the nerve to wear the Spider's symbol as if he was part of the Spider. He had disrespected her family. Acted as if he was part of it. He wasn't. And for that, she had killed him.

But she had specifically made sure that Majitani was in front of her so they wouldn't be able to see what was happening. She still hoped they didn't suspect anything. Ever since Kurapica had mentioned that he wanted revenge on the Spiders, she had been rather paranoid about Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio finding out who she really was. She didn't want them to hate her. But, either way, at least they wouldn't be underestimating her anymore.

"What did you do?" Kurapica asked, as soon as she arrived. For some reason, he hid his face. It seemed he was really hard to keep his voice level. "I don't see any weapons on you…"

Lucy looked up at him. If Kurapica suspected something, Killua would too. She doubted Gon or Leorio would though.

"Nothing special," Lucy said, pretending to be indifferent. Killua was watching her. She could tell. He'd probably pull her aside and ask her about it later…

"Lucy, you're all covered in blood!" Gon said worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lucy said. "It's not my blood."

Her phone started ringing again. Talk about bad timing… everyone was staring at her.

"The next guy is going onto the field," Lucy said. Then she walked into the far corner to talk to her caller.

"What you doing?" the caller asked rudely. Feitan.

"Just killed someone, why?" Lucy asked. She wondered what Feitan wanted with her. He almost never bothered to call anyone.

"You rip out nails? And break arms?"

"No time for that," Lucy laughed. It was just like Feitan to say something like that. It had been awhile since she had heard someone declare that they were going to kill someone so ruthlessly. The people she was around now… they wouldn't even justify killing someone who was obviously going to backstab them.

"Boss remind you to call him."

Huh? Remind her? Did that mean they had told her to call him once before? She didn't remember that… "Ah, okay," she replied hurriedly. "I'll call him when I get the chance."

The line went dead. Lucy wasn't in the least surprised that Feitan didn't say bye – he never did. But the whole time she had been talking to him, Killua had never taken his eyes off of her…

* * *

Yay, Lucy get's a Mary Sue moment! ...dunno if that's good or bad. But I think she deserves one every now and then! I wonder what the creepy third examiner was thinking while he was watching them... Hmm... but anyways~

There's a new drawing of Lucy on my profile~ Check it out... it's got the pic of her weapons in it xD

Sorry to anyone who thought disks were her weapons after they saw the first pic... They originally were, but then I changed it because they would be too difficult to describe. Claws are a lot more simple and straightforward. They aren't like Killua's claws though! [I think. I hope.]

Wow, this Trick Tower arc is getting long... *sigh.* I wanna hurry up and finish it already~

Review please~ Con/crit is highly appreciated~


	12. Trick Tower 4: Kurapica and Killua

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

In the manga, Jonas is called Johness, and in the anime, he's called Jones. But for my purposes, I'm calling him Jonas. I hope no one minds~

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, AcPa xox, Mimitalind~

Note: This chapter is kinda creepy... especially Jonas.

**

* * *

Bombs x Jonas x Predator**

Kurapica took a deep breath. The Spider… His eyes were scarlet with rage. When he had asked Lucy how she had killed the man, he had been trying to calm himself. Leorio had almost had to restrain him when he saw the tattoo. His vision had become stained the color of fresh blood… the blood of his clansmen. Even though he knew it was fake. The tattoo of a true Spider… had a number inscribed in it. But his wrath towards the Spiders would never die away until they were gone…

In an attempt to pull himself back together, he thought of the technical details. The score was now 2-1. They were in the lead. Kurapica checked the time… 59:03:24. If he subtracted the twenty hours lost during Gon's match… they had thirty-nine hours and three minutes left to clear this tower.

Killua didn't seem to be paying any attention to their new opponent. Instead, he was watching Lucy talk on the phone. As far as Kurapica could tell, Killua thought there was something odd about Lucy… as did Kurapica. But, like Killua, Kurapica couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Since Killua didn't seem to be interested in the least about this new guy, Kurapica supposed that he should go instead. The man was scrawny with brown hair and sunken eyes – totally unfit for fighting.

"How do you want to fight?" Kurapica asked.

"As you can see…" the scrawny man said. "I'm weak. I'm not too good at hitting or jumping around. So how about we play a game?"

"Very well," Kurapica said. "I accept."

"Alright then…" the scrawny man said. "I suppose we'll be playing a guessing game then…"

"Okay," Kurapica said, without second thought. A guessing game was probably a mind game… He wouldn't be easy prey. "What will it be?"

"Well, you see… there are bombs on both my team's platform and your team's platform. These…" the man said, fishing two small remote controls from his pockets. "Are the switches to set off those bombs."

Kurapica considered whether or not the man was lying. He could be lying that those were the remote controls to set off the bombs, or he could be lying about the existence of the bombs altogether. But this was the Trick Tower after all… both were possible. He really shouldn't have accepted this challenge so readily.

"You may choose the remote control with the green button or the red button… Each remote control corresponds to one of the bombs…" the scrawny man continued in his drawling tone. "Or you may simply choose to give up, which will cost you thirty hours."

So he would be blowing up his friends, blowing up his enemies, or losing thirty hours? Kurapica didn't like any of his options… He was afraid of losing his friends, especially by his own hands… As for blowing up his enemies, he didn't particularly want to have any other deaths than the Spiders on his hands. Losing thirty hours seemed to be the best option…

* * *

Lucy had been feeling ill at ease since her match ended because of Killua's nonstop glaring, but eventually she let her mind wander. When she got the chance, she would have to change out of these clothes… they were disgusting. The stench of the blood was sinking into her skin again… and the stains would be almost impossible to remove from her clothing. The last time she had gotten this blood-soaked, Phinks had taken one look at her clothes and told her to trash them. She liked this outfit though… Oh well. Not like she had a choice.

Lucy wondered what Kuroro wanted to talk to her about… even though it hadn't even been a full three days yet since she'd left Phinks and Feitan, she found herself thinking about them, and the rest of the Spiders, constantly. Although she didn't really have a home, if "people" were to "home"… then she would be feeling homesick. These people felt foreign to her… at least she understood the Spiders' mentality.

"Kurapica!" Gon shouted, interrupting her thoughts. "We'll be okay with whatever you choose!"

Choose? Lucy wondered what she had missed. Well, it really wouldn't be any harm to just ask…

* * *

Even if Gon told him that they'd be okay with whatever he chose… Kurapica still didn't like his options. Perhaps he was easier prey than he had thought… the entire team, except for Lucy, had voted for letting Leorio check the fox-girl's condition… revealing a weakness towards other people's lives. This man was taking advantage of that…

Which meant he thought Kurapica would probably give up, making it quite likely that there weren't any bombs to begin with. But he couldn't know for sure…

"I can wait for you to choose as long as you like," the man said.

"No," Kurapica said. "I give up." His friends were more important than the Hunter Exam. He could always take it again next year, as could they, if they ran out of time here. But they could only do that if they lived. Kurapica didn't want to lose anyone important to him again… He had already lost too many.

* * *

Lucy wasn't sure how she should have felt about Kurapica's choice. It lost them another thirty hours, but what if he had chosen wrong? She wondered what the Spiders would do in that situation… well they would be fast enough to avoid the explosion, if there was one. But what about if she was with Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio? They wouldn't be able to avoid it. They'd die if she chose wrong. What would she do if they died…?

"Sorry," Kurapica said. "I shouldn't have accepted without knowing the conditions."

Of course not. That was the same as underestimating your opponent. Shalnark would have scolded her if she had done what Kurapica just did. "Yeah, sure, whatever," Lucy told him. "Who's next?"

"Me," Killua announced. "I'm the only one that hasn't gone, right?"

Leorio looked aghast. Lucy would have thought that he would have learned from her battle that just because he was a kid, Leorio shouldn't assume he was weak. But no, he was still shocked. "We're doomed…" Leorio said. "If it's a match that requires your head, we'll lose…"

"Gon!" Killua said irritably. "He's really pissing me off! We haven't even seen the next opponent yet!"

* * *

It was finally his turn… Ah, yes… finally. Finally he could get his hands on some flesh… It had been so long… And his opponent was a little boy… Wonderful… Perfect. Jonas the Dismantler… Jonas the Dismantler would tear him into pieces while listening to a symphony of his shrieks of agony…

He flexed his hands in anticipation… Ah… the sheer thrill of organs dripping blood on his fingers… How he missed those days when flesh was always within grasp… Jonas unveiled himself.

* * *

"Killua…" Leorio said tensely. "That's Jonas… Jonas the Dismantler. Give up this match. I don't care if we lose. Don't fight him."

"I've heard that name before," Kurapica said. "Zaban City's worst mass murderer."

Judging from Killua's expression, he didn't look very scared. Neither was Lucy. As terrified of him as Leorio and Kurapica seemed to be, this man didn't have nen. His only strength was physical prowess… something easily taken care of.

"And?" Killua asked indifferently. "How many did he kill?"

"It's not how many…" Leorio answered. "Just from what we know, one hundred forty-six victims have died by his hand. The victims were all cruelly torn apart and found dismembered into more than fifty parts… That was how he got his name…"

Oh? So this guy liked to dismember his victims? She doubted he was as good at that as Feitan was. And only one hundred forty-six victims? Although she had never bothered to count, she was pretty sure she'd passed that number up awhile ago…

"There's no need to fight that psycho murderer!" Leorio said. "We can still take the Exam next year… Kurapica knew that, and so he chose to give up rather than risking our lives! Everyone agree with me on this. We're going to retire from this Exam right now. If you have any objections…"

Killua still didn't seem impressed. Lucy figured he had probably killed a lot more than one hundred forty-six people too. After all, he _was_ a Zaoldyeck.

"Killua!" Gon shouted as Killua walked to the field.

Realizing that Killua was going to take the challenge, Leorio shouted, "Hey! Killua! Wait!"

"Don't stop me. It's finally starting to get interesting…" Killua said, smirking. "This game, that is."

Indeed. The previous exams had been pretty boring, but she had actually gotten to fight someone in this one… And now she'd get to see a Zaoldyeck fight. She wondered if he'd use those cat claws he had shown her before… when they had first met.

Leorio tried to argue with Killua, but Gon stopped him. Gon knew Killua could handle this guy… Even if he was naïve, at least he could judge people's strengths.

"How do you want to do this?" Killua asked calmly. Lucy could tell he wasn't afraid of an amateur killer like Jonas.

"Fight?" Jonas asked. "You have the wrong idea… What's going to happen now is a one-sided murder."

Lucy stifled a chuckle. Yes. He was right. It would be a one-sided murder… but he wouldn't be the murderer.

"I have no interest in amnesty or the Exam…" Jonas continued. "I just want to grab some bleeding hunks of flesh with my hands… That's all I'm interested in… You can cry and scream… it will be a beautiful song to my ears…"

Insanity clouded the man's eyes. The Spiders loved killing… Lucy knew that. So did she. But this man was not in control of his desire… His desire was in control of him.

"Okay, so whoever dies loses," Killua said.

"Stop, Killua!" Kurapica shouted fearfully.

"Killua!" yelled Leorio.

They were just as ignorant as Jonas. Killua had begun to seep bloodlust… she could see it in his aura. Even if he hadn't awakened his nen abilities yet, his killing intent was apparent. Jonas was nowhere near as dangerous as Killua… It was like a battle between a cat and a mouse… where the mouse thought it was ahead of the cat.

"Yeah, you're going to – " Jonas began before he realized what had happened. It had been too fast for Kurapica or Leorio to see, but she and Gon had seen it. In a mere instant, Killua had pierced through the man's muscle-bound body and snatched his beating heart from his chest… It was already over. Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio's eyes were wide. Not even Gon, who had known Killua was an assassin, had expected such a method of slaughter.

Blood leaked onto Jonas's gray prison uniform from the new hole in his chest… Painfully, he turned to towards Killua…

A wretched grin had spread across Killua's face. His expression was so similar to the one she herself had worn during her battle against Majitani… That of an eagle who had just swooped down and caught a snake in its talons… That of a predator killing its prey…

"Gi…give…give it back…" Jonas moaned his last words with futility.

Killua tightened his grip on the heart until it exploded under the pressure. Jonas fell to the floor, dead.

"Okay, now we have three wins and two losses," Killua said, putting his hands back in his pockets. "We've completed this stage, right?"

"Ye - Yeah…" said the bald man. It seemed he hadn't expected this sort of outcome either. "You guys win. You guys will have to wait fifty hours in that room because of your previous losses."

* * *

Finally done with the Trick Tower battles... ugh. That was wayyyyyy too much work. Just one or two more chapters of Trick Tower... *sigh*

Review please~ Con/crit highly appreciated =D


	13. Trick Tower 5:Waiting Room & Last Choice

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, 1412 karasu, and Mimitalind~

Waiting Room x Game x Choice

**

* * *

First Hour**

After she finished changing into a new outfit in the tiny bathroom in the corner of the room, Lucy flopped down on the couch. There was a single security camera in the room and a glass table in the center. A few bookshelves lined the cream-colored walls. Killua was talking to Gon, Kurapica was looking at the bookshelf, and Leorio had lain down on the floor.

Lucy fumbled through her bag to get out her deck of cards and found herself shuffling them endlessly. She randomly flipped over the top card of the deck… an ace of spades. She could have figured as much.

It had been awhile since she had last played cards with Shalnark and Nobunaga and Ubou and Phinks. Out of the Spiders, they were the ones who would usually play cards with her… she found herself wondering what they were all up to.

"Lucy," Killua said. She was surprised he had called her 'Lucy' and not 'Mop Head.' "Whatcha doing?"

Lucy glanced up towards him. "Not much. Thinking."

"So, you know," Killua said smirking. "Someone called your phone after you fell asleep on me."

Lucy turned her head so he couldn't see her flush. She still couldn't believe she had done that, but she had also known he was going to tease her about that… but wait, called her phone? "And?" she asked.

"Pfft," Killua said. "You were snoring the whole time."

"Yeah, right!" Lucy said a little bit too loudly. She was flustered. Why? It must be because of all his stupid teasing… Ugh. She needed to calm down. She took a deep breath and asked, "What's this about a phone call?"

"Well," Killua said, more seriously this time. "He said to tell you that someone he calls 'Boss' wants you to call him."

Lucy was surprised for a moment but then regained her composure. Right now he didn't know, but if Killua ever tangled with the Spiders, he would realize who Boss was… It wasn't likely that he ever would though… Well, at least now she knew what Feitan had been talking about.

Teasing Lucy was simply irresistible. Killua hadn't known her for too long yet, but he could already tell she hid her face when she was embarrassed. She probably thought he couldn't see it when she turned her head. As if. But for the sake of his own amusement, there was no way he was going to tell her that.

On the other hand, Lucy was definitely hiding something. He hadn't mentioned the part where the caller had mentioned 'Fei' still being mad at her. Killua wondered who 'Boss' and 'Fei' and the caller and her brother were. Something was off. Especially the way, as Kurapica had pointed out, Lucy didn't even have any weapons on her, yet she had managed to stab the Frankenstein-looking man in such a way that he bled onto the concrete platform. Unless she had some kind of trick like his nails, that shouldn't have been possible.

And then, the thing that was bugging him most of all: who was it that had caused that weird, unnerving pressure? It couldn't have been Lucy could it?...

Killua found himself wondering more and more about Lucy's background. She wasn't just some random girl that had wanted to take the Hunter Exam. She was something more. Was she an assassin too? Who was she really…? He wasn't sure why, but he didn't really want to know the answer to that question…

**

* * *

Tenth Hour**

Lucy had just woken up and had already begun munching on a vanilla-flavored candy bar. Where she got such a thing was beyond him, but Killua surmised that it was probably disgusting. There was a reason why nobody ever saw vanilla-flavored candy bars in stores… and it wasn't just that chocolate-flavored candy bars were about a million times better.

Kurapica was pouring himself a cup of coffee while he read a book. Killua didn't particularly like reading, so he ignored Kurapica. But Killua was bored. He didn't have anything to do since Gon was still sleeping, as was Leorio.

"Hey," Lucy said, gesturing towards the television. "Wanna play that game?"

"Game?" Killua asked curiously. He hadn't noticed the Joy Station underneath the TV before, but now that she mentioned it, that would be a good way to kill some time. "Okay. What game is it?"

"Hmm…" she said thoughtfully as she examined the game's case. "Not sure. Looks like some kind of shooting game."

Killua grinned. He doubted a Mop Head _girl_ like Lucy would be any good at a shooting game. Yeah. What kind of _girl_ was good at shooting games? "I'm gonna win," he said confidently.

"Oh?" Lucy challenged. "Is that so? We'll just have to see about that, Gray Hair."

**

* * *

Eighteenth Hour**

"Aww…" Gon said disappointedly. "I wanna play…"

"No!" Killua and Lucy barked at him simultaneously. They had been battling shooting at each other for eight hours straight. There still wasn't a winner. Like hell Killua would admit defeat to a wimpy little _girl_who was so weak that she couldn't even row a boat for an hour and had to be carried to the second exam center by Hisoka. Killua was not about to lose to a _girl_.

"You're pretty good, aren't you?" Lucy said. "I thought for sure you'd be long dead by now…"

"Pfft," Killua said. "You _would_ be dead, if I wasn't going easy on you."

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you prove it?"

"Don't worry yourself wrinkly, Mop Head. I _will_ prove it."

"…But I wanna play too," Gon whined.

**

* * *

Thirty-Ninth Hour**

An entire day and a half had passed since they had entered the waiting room… and more than an entire day since Killua and Lucy had started playing that shooting game. They had both pulled all-nighters… Neither would admit defeat. If not for all the item supplements they had gotten throughout the battle, the match probably would have ended in a double knock out a full twenty-eight hours ago.

"Ugh…" Killua heard Leorio say. "They're still playing that game?"

"Yeah…" Kurapica said wearily. "It was too loud… I couldn't sleep."

"…Same."

"I thought you weren't gonna 'go easy' on me anymore," Lucy smirked.

"I changed my mind," Killua lied cooly. "Just being a gentleman."

"Yeah, right," Lucy said. "You just can't beat me."

"Same goes for you."

**

* * *

Forty-Third Hour**

Wanting to talk to Killua, Kurapica looked over at the television screen to see what the two – Lucy and Killua – were up to. He wanted them to pause the game for a moment so he could ask Killua about the trick he had used to kill Jonas… But they were still stuck in a standstill, and they had fallen asleep next to each other again.

**

* * *

Fiftieth Hour**

Lucy and Killua were glaring at one another with frustrated expressions on their faces. They hadn't gotten to finish their match, and the fifty hours were already over. They reached a mutual agreement to put the finale of their match off till later.

"Let's go!" Leorio announced, checking his wristband. "We only have eight and a half hours left."

* * *

It had been seven hours and forty-five minutes since they had started running down the tower. Lucy was exhausted, even though she had demanded that Killua lend her his skateboard. So far, they had had to crawl under lasers, run faster than an enormous boulder, and avoid the countless blades swinging across the hallway. Ugh… such a pain. She really should have designed her Hatsu to be more all-purpose. And she should have taken up more physical training. Next time, she would listen to Ubou and Phinks. But she still wasn't going to lose to any of these nen-less people.

They were now at a path labeled "The Last Crossroad." The walls were made of brick and weapons lined the walls. There was a single steel slab with several pairs of handcuffs hanging from it. Two doors stood in front of them with a grotesque decoration of a human body with spikes protruding from it above them.

"Candidates, this is the last division point on the 'Path of Majority Rule,'" someone explained over the speaker. "The grueling majority rule ends here, but you will also have to pick a door. There are two doors to choose from. If you press 'O', all five of you can go, but it is a longer and harder path. If you press 'X', only three of you can go, but it is a shorter and easier path. If you press 'X', the door will open once two people are chained to the wall. Those two will not be able to move for the remaining time. Also, the longer path will take you at least forty-five hours to finish, no matter how fast you go. If you press 'X'' you can get to the goal in approximately three minutes. Now, pick 'O' or 'X', using majority rule."

Lucy frowned. She was with the Spiders – her family – she would definitely pick 'O'. There was no way she would leave any of them behind. And if it was them, they would be able to finish a path should take forty-five hours in forty-five minutes. But this wasn't them. This was Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio.

That posed a new question in her mind. Were they her friends? Was she their friend?

_Friends were family._

She couldn't leave family behind…

So was she going to fail the exam at this point…?

"I'm going to press 'O'," Gon said. "We've all come this far, so we should all finish."

"But Gon," Killua objected. "None of us will finish if we press 'O'. It's all or nothing."

"That's true…" Kurapica said.

Yes, those were the facts. Three would pass or all would fail. What would Shalnark and Kuroro do?

"So what should we do then?" Leorio asked.

What would Shalnark and Kuroro do? Lucy wracked her brain for answers. They were wasting time here, arguing about their options. They needed to come up with an answer, fast.

"If no one has any ideas, it's best to pick the short path," Killua said bluntly.

"No!" Gon shouted. "That's not fair!"

Wait. Why was she thinking so hard for these weak people who couldn't even use nen? Did she not want to leave them behind?

_It's okay to do anything to someone you don't know, but always stay loyal to your family and friends._

Did that mean she thought of them as friends – maybe even family – already? But she hadn't even known them for a week…

"…We don't have much time left," Kurapica said. "Gon, are you sure about your idea?"

"Yeah!" Gon exclaimed. "Just leave it to me! Everybody press 'O'!"

Gon had come up with a way to let all of them pass while she had been thinking? It wasn't just Killua… Gon was also exceeding her expectations. And why had he been so insistent on saving all of them? Did he consider her a friend…?

Did Kurapica and Leorio consider her a friend as well?

…Did Killua?

"Lucy!" Killua shouted, pounding at the wall with an axe. "Get over here and help!"

"Huh?" Lucy asked. He had interrupted her train of thought.

"We're breaking into the short path from the long path!"

Lucy's eyes widened for a second. She wasn't sure why, but a warm, happy feeling of being accepted filled her. It was a feeling she had never had with the Spiders… these people needed her help. She wasn't the invisible member of the group with them. The Spiders were powerful enough by themselves…

"Hurry up!" Killua shouted.

"Okay!" Lucy said, smiling, as she grabbed an axe off the wall. Maybe being with these naïve, ignorant, pathetic, nen-less people wasn't so bad.

* * *

After a bouncy ride on a makeshift rolling platform, Gon, Killua, Kurapica, Leorio, and Lucy finished the exam. Their next destination: A southern vacation island.

* * *

*Throws confetti in the air* Finally done with the Trick Tower!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter~

Review please~ Con/crit highly appreciated =)


	14. Third Exam Extra: Southern Island 1

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, Mimitalind, and AcPa xox~

I wonder how many people noticed Iiawah is Hawaii spelled backwards...

**

* * *

Ten Million Zeni x Kuruta Ship x Pillows**

Oh my god, Jesus Christ, it was Iiawah Island all over again. It was humid and scorching hot. The Hunter Committee called _this_ a vacation? Apparently, Lucy was either not very tolerant of heat or they had the wrong idea of what a vacation was. The only good thing about this place was the breeze.

After they had completed the Trick Tower, they had met the third examiner, Lippo, who had taken them on a blimp to this island in the middle of nowhere. Some of the examinees looked relieved about the break. Lucy just wanted the exam over with. But either way, at least now she would have a chance to call Kuroro.

An elderly couple welcomed them as the examinees filed off the ship and then proceeded to explain that they were managers of the hotel (which was actually a ship) that the examinees were now to stay at. Upon sight, Lucy had known they couldn't be their next examiners because of their lack of nen. Their auras were that of almost every other candidate here. They were average people.

Idiot Shiny Head was talking to the couple while blocking the sun in such a way that it reflected off of his bald head and shined in their faces. Lucy grimaced.

"Hey! Shiny Head!" she yelled. "Move! You're blinding us!"

"What was that?" Hanzo shouted in response.

"You're in the way, idiot Shiny Head."

Hanzo glared at her. Lucy smirked.

"…I have a message from the Hunter Committee," the woman of the elderly couple said, turning Lucy and Hanzo's attention to her. "To everyone that has passed: Good job. The Fourth Exam will begin in three days. Please enjoy your break on this island until then."

"A break?" Gon exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh man, that just messes up the rhythm," Leorio complained, even though Lucy could tell he really did appreciate this chance at a vacation. "I was all prepared, too."

"We could use a break," Kurapica said. "It's been constantly stressful until now."

"Maybe you need one, but I don't," Lucy said irritably. The Hunter Exam wasn't that much more stressful that her everyday life. Well, a break wouldn't hurt.

"Here we go," Leorio said as he – and the rest of the crowd – made his way towards the rooms on the ship. "I guess I'll take a shower then…"

"Please wait," the woman said.

Everyone's heads turned.

"Why?" Leorio asked, just as confused as everybody else.

"We'll be charging ten million zeni for the rooms."

Everyone stared at them wide eyed.

"Ten million zeni?" Leorio asked in disbelief.

"You're charging us?" Gon asked, equally surprised.

"That's…" Killua began.

"…Too expensive," Kurapica finished.

"For that kind of money, we could stay at a first class hotel in York Shin City for eight years!" Tonpa said, shocked.

"Whatever," Lucy said, pulling out her bag. If it was money… it wasn't an issue. Several days before the Hunter Exam, Phinks and Feitan had come up with this great idea to rob a bank for its pens. Lucy had taken most of the cash. Finding the money, she started counting it.

"Um… How about children who don't have that much money?" Gon asked innocently.

_Alright… hundred thousand ninety zeni…_

"For that matter, do we look like a group of nobles?" Leorio asked.

_One million, three hundred eighty-seven thousand zeni…_

"Not even adults would have that much money!" he continued.

_Two million, five hundred sixty-nine thousand, one-hundred fifty-two zeni…_

"…Then I can't allow you to stay," the hotel manager said.

_Four million ninty-nine zeni…_

"Yeah, that's fine!" Leorio said angrily.

_Five million, two hundred five thousand, six hundred three zeni…_

"I would rather go camping on the island than get ripped off here!" Leorio shouted.

_Six million, seven hundred ten thousand, nine hundred forty-three zeni…_

"Three days. That's how long you would last without staying here," said Kurapica sensibly.

_Eight million, three hundred twenty-one thousand, two hundred eighty-eight zeni…_

"The problem is water. We can't expect any spring water from an island this size," he added.

_Nine million, one-hundred fifty-nine thousand, twenty zeni…_

"Under this sun? We would turn to beef jerky in two days," Kurapica said. "Even if we did survive, we wouldn't have enough strength to make it through the next exam."

Wait, huh?... Fate had got to be kidding her.

"Then what do we do?" Leorio demanded. "I've never even dreamed of having that much money!"

"For people in your situation…" the hotel manager began.

_Nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine zeni._

"There is an alternate payment method."

One zeni short. Seriously? _Seriously?_

"Barter, of course."

* * *

And that was how Lucy found herself searching the various sunken ships for treasure. She found herself grumbling at her luck. She should have pick-pocketing some money on the way there. How annoying. Like seriously annoying.

Hanzo burst out of the water holding an ornate golden crown screaming, "Found it!"

"That's the crown of Gera the Third, the king who was lost at sea during his coronation in the 16th Century!" Kurapica explained, sounding like an encyclopedia.

Lucy looked towards the scene and froze. The idiot Shiny Head was… was… he was only wearing a loin cloth… "That's great," Lucy muttered. "He found the crown of some big important fancy king. Now all he's got to do is find his pants…"

* * *

Half an hour later, Lucy was sulking in her new-found hotel room. She had found some perfectly good treasures, even though she really only needed one more zeni to pay for one of these stupid rooms. But for some reason, since there weren't enough rooms, she had ended up sharing a room with two other people – Gon and Killua. Why… Why… did she always end up stuck with Killua?

But now she was alone because Gon and Killua had gone out fishing. She took out her phone to dial Kuroro, since he preferred not to call people himself. He was rather secretive with his number and typically had people call him, rather than the other way around. She dialed… 9-1-1…

"We're sorry; your call cannot be completed as dialed…"

Lucy shut off her phone and checked the signal. No bars. So she_ still_ couldn't call him.

* * *

Kurapica poured oil onto the sunken ship he had found while searching for treasure. It was a former ship from the Kuruta clan, presumably that of some clansmen trying to escape the Phantom Troupe. Several dead bodies lay strewn throughout the ship, but there was no sign of the ship being attacked. He clutched the protective golden lizard pendant he had found tighter in his sweaty palm. It was odd how he probably knew who these people were but could no longer recognize them. All that remained of them were a few rags of clothing and their skeletons.

Alerted by her footsteps, Kurapica turned to see Lucy standing behind him. She looked a little surprised to see him there but then explained that she had gotten bored of being inside the ship and had come outside to explore now that it was cooler.

"So how 'bout you?" she continued. "What are you up to here?"

"…Cleaning up," Kurapica answered, turning around to face her. "This is one of my clan's… the Kuruta clan's… ships…"

Lucy had a bizarre expression on her face when he mentioned the name of his clan. Recognition… perhaps? He wondered if she had heard of them before. "Is it from before the massacre?" she asked.

"…I'd say it was an escaping ship," Kurapica explained. "Probably people fleeing from the attack."

Lucy looked visibly surprised at this. "So there were actually more people, other than just you, who survived the massacre?"

"Yeah…" Kurapica said. "But from the looks of it, they all perished from dehydration and starvation. At least they weren't attacked for their eyes of fire like the rest of us..."

Lucy stared at him with those strange, pale green eyes of hers. They were depthless and clear, but at the same time, tainted. "…Do you know why the Kuruta clan's eyes turn scarlet?"

Kurapica was a bit taken aback by that question. He had never really thought about it. He had just assumed it was some kind of genetic trait. "Do you?" he asked, answering Lucy's question with another question.

"Hmm… just wondering," she said, avoiding the question he had just asked. Sometimes Lucy would say the weirdest things. "I'm shocked that the Spiders would have been careless enough to leave one of you behind… let alone an entire shipload, even if they did die."

It was almost spiteful the way she said it. Of course what she said made sense, but her tone of voice and the way she worded it bugged him. The last time he had mentioned the Spiders to her, she had said "As if the Spiders would lose to you." It made perfect sense that she would think that. Everybody knew the Spiders were more than formidable enemies. But at the same time, it sounded spiteful. Again, he felt like there was something he didn't know about her. He chose to overlook it, lighting a match.

"The glitter of our eyes is regarded as one of the most beautiful things in the world," Kurapica said. He stared into the flickering flame before tossing the match onto the oil sodden floor. "That's why they were killed."

* * *

It was already late at night so Gon, Killua, and Lucy had all returned to the hotel room. Lucy lay on one of the two beds (even though there were three of them, they somehow had to share two beds) of the hotel room, thinking about what Kurapica had said. She remembered when the Spiders had gone to kill the Kuruta clan. It wasn't because they had been after wealth or the beauty of the eyes… The slaughter of the Kuruta tribe had been of the Phantom Troupe's earliest exploits. It was one of the main reasons they had become as they were now…

"Gon and I get the beds," Killua declared.

Jolted from her thoughts, Lucy glared at him. "And who decided to let you make up the rules?"

"I did," he said, grinning.

"Well, too bad," Lucy said. "'Cause I'm definitely sleeping on a bed tonight."

"Wait, what about me?" Gon whined. Poor Gon.

"You can have the other bed if you force this stupid Gray Hair out of it," Lucy said playfully.

"Stupid Gray Hair? You dumb Mop Head!" Killua teased.

Lucy's face met rather violently with a pillow. She glared at its hurler.

"Hm? Whatcha gonna do about it?" Killua's smirk was spread from ear to ear. She flung the pillow back but hit Gon instead.

"What was that for?" Gon shouted, throwing another pillow.

"Haha!" Killua laughed, pointing at Lucy. "You missed m – "

Gon's pillow had hit him smack in the face.

"Why you…"

Pretty soon, the pillows were flying. Lucy found herself laughing so much her stomach hurt. Being with Gon and Killua was so much fun. It took almost no time at all for them to make her forget whatever serious things she was thinking about.

That night, they went to bed, all sprawled on top of each other.

* * *

I hope I can make this part of the story interesting... I'm having difficultly making it different enough from the original story D;

But anyways, I really love reviews, so anyone who's taking the time to read this should leave me one! Don't be lazy D; I want feedback~


	15. Third Exam Extra: Southern Island 2

Ugh... After this chapter, updates will be getting slower due to the boatload of homework my teachers like to give ." Sorry!

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) belong to Yoshihiro Togashi~

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, AcPa xox, Mimitalind, Snowy-Sonya, and Sofia10Soccer xD

* * *

**Vanilla Sushi x Barnacles x Typhoon**

Killua woke up to getting Lucy's fist to his face. As did Gon. At the exact same time. She had muttered something about "Naganaga-kun make more vanilla sushi…" whatever the hell that was. But after that, she had swung her arms out and hit both of them in the face. Hard. And kept sleeping afterwards.

"Nnn…" Gon mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Killua glared at Lucy irritably. First she had refused to give him and Gon the beds. Then she punched both of them. Stupid Mop Head.

Killua grabbed a pillow from the bed with the purpose of throwing it at her in revenge, but instead of throwing it he found himself a sharp pain. A _very _sharp pain. This was the one type of torture his family had _not_ given him. Lucy had muttered something like, "Fei-kun kill you," and then proceeded to swing her leg upward. Right into his groin.

Why was it that when he had put that fish in her face he had gotten slapped, almost killed, and lost his pants, and this time, he got kicked in the groin? God dammit, Lucy. Karma must really like her. Or maybe karma just didn't like him.

It was when he was doubled over in pain that he heard the blimp. He decided that karma had some kind of grudge against him.

* * *

Gon had rushed out of the room – but not before slamming the door in a hurry. Lucy wondered what the rush was… who in the world wanted to get up this early anyways…? Killua had hobbled out a few seconds afterwards. He looked like he was in a lot of pain for some reason… Ah well. She was probably imagining things. It was way too early in the morning. They could at least close the door like any civilized human being would… She yawned. Maybe she would go back to sleep.

And then a bunch more doors slammed both open and shut as hordes of people rushed out of their rooms. What could be causing so much commotion so early in the morning…? Ugh. Let her sleep. Or, if they insisted that she must wake up, pour her a cup of hot vanilla tea. That would wake her up. It was better than that terrible drink called coffee any day.

But no, no one was here to pour her a cup of hot vanilla tea because they were all rushing out to the ship deck. For that matter, she wondered if they even had vanilla tea here. She doubted it. There seemed to be an extreme shortage of people who understood the true awesomeness of vanilla. Everybody who thought chocolate was oh-so-great obviously needed to get a reality check and try some vanilla-flavored stuff. Chocolate was overrated.

"Look!" people screamed from the deck. So they weren't going to leave her alone and let her sleep. How annoying. Let a girl get her beauty sleep. Even Phinks and Ubou knew that… probably from trying to wake up Machi so many times. Well, if she wasn't going to get any sleep, she might as well go check out what everybody thought was so interesting…

* * *

Lucy eventually wandered out to the deck. Her hair looked just as mop-like as it had the last time they had been stuck sharing a room. Or perhaps it was an upside-down jelly fish. Or Medusa having a bad hair day. Either way, she still looked like a sleepwalking Mop Head wearing a far-too-frilly-and-pink-for-such-a-violent-girl nightgown (any girl who was so proficient at shooting games must be horribly violent, not to mention that she had punched him in the face). Who the hell still wore those granny-styled frilly pink nightgowns anyways? Maybe she was a Mop Headed Granny. Whatever.

But by the time Lucy had actually dragged her Mop Headed Granny self out of bed, the blimp had long since taken off with the hotel managers. She was the last person to come out and see what was going on. Sea gulls screeched overhead signaling the breaking dawn. All thirty-six examinees mulled around the deck, wondering what they should do now that they were stranded on some island in the middle of nowhere.

Upon finding out that they had been ditched by the managers, Lucy had promptly complained that they had some nerve to do that after forcing her to search for treasure because she had only been one zeni short. On that note, Killua wondered why Lucy – or anyone else in their right mind – would carry 9,999,999 zeni around. Well, if it was Lucy he was talking about, she probably wasn't in her right mind. And then Kurapica told her that it wasn't like they stole from her because they had left all the treasure behind. People began speculating that this was actually part of the exam.

"Hey! Come here for a second!" a green-haired girl with a pink hat yelled from above.

* * *

Lucy stood in the small musty room irritably. The Spiders stole from people. People did not –_ did not _– steal from the Spiders. Even if the hotel managers had left the treasure behind, they had stolen her time because they had wasted her time, making her try to find it.

Examinee 53 – a boy wearing a funny-looking purple hat – turned the dials of an ancient radio. The room itself was dank and appeared to have moss growing on the walls. Well, in actuality, it wasn't just this room. The entire ship was old and almost falling apart.

"Is it broken, Pockle?" Gon asked the boy curiously, referring to the radio.

"No, the machine itself is not broken," Pockle replied.

"I don't know what the actual problem is, but we can't hear anything on any channel," the green-haired girl said. So that was why her cell phone hadn't worked. How vexing. Lucy disliked the situation more and more by the minute. And she still thought she deserved a nice warm cup of vanilla tea.

"What…? Then…" Leorio began.

"Yeah," Pockle said. "We can't make contact with anyone. This situation is no different than if all of us were stranded here."

Gon cocked his head, as if he was listening to something. "Huh?" Gon asked. "Did you just hear that strange sound?"

"No," Killua answered.

What Shalnark would say to do in this situation would be to analyze the situation, so they should –

"Why don't we search for more clues?" Hanzo suggested.

"I agree. Let's do that," Kurapica said.

"So you actually have a good idea for once, idiot Shiny Head," Lucy mockingly. She had been thinking the same thing, but he had said it first. The only thing that idiot Shiny Head would ever beat her in was being so idiotically shiny headed.

Hanzo smirked confidently. "Of course."

"Can you keep looking at that for awhile?" Hanzo asked.

"Okay," Pockle said. "Got it."

* * *

Leorio found thirty-six compasses, Hanzo found a bunch of rulers and templates… measuring materials, and Kurapica had found a small map showing the direction of Zebil Island. Reasoning that the ocean was very calm, several men decided that these were obviously clues left to them by the Hunter Committee so that they would set sail to Zebil Island. Kurapica warned them against it – it could have been a trap since the map didn't tell the actual distance there. They wouldn't know how much food and water to bring. Unconvinced, the men said that would also be part of the test and that Kurapica was thinking too much. Kurapica argued that he was just saying to wait until night time, when the stars came out.

Lucy was impressed that Kurapica could draw so many conclusions from such little information. Of course she would have thought of those things too though, had she gotten enough sleep. But remembering her previous boating nightmare (because of that stupid idiot Shiny Head…), Lucy decided that no, she did not want to go on another boat trip unless she absolutely had to. Kurapica's reasoning made enough sense to her, and it seemed odd that the Hunter Committee would leave them such blatant and obvious clues.

"Futile," Examinee 384 said. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with frizzy black hair. "Of course this is part of the exam. In fact, there might be a time limit on it."

"I don't approve of anything that is going to make everyone worry," Kurapica said, sounding like a school teacher scolding a bad child. "Do you have any evidence?"

"I just went to check the water," he replied. "There isn't much left."

A murmur went through the crowd.

"If we relax and stay, we might get dehydrated. Our stay here is limited to three days. The first day already went to treasure hunting, so there are only two days left. That must mean that Zebil Island is within two days travel time."

"I see!" Gon said.

"Brother, this is awful! We can't think about food!" the smallest of the three brothers that always stuck together and reminded Lucy of the three Musketeers said.

"Alright. Let's get a boat," the bulkiest one said.

The rest of the crowd apparently agreed because they all started to run off.

"Hey!" Hanzo shouted. He had been conferring with Kurapica over their options until now. Lucy had to give him some credit. At least he was acting somewhat like a leader now. "Wait! If we split up, we'll be in trouble if something happens!"

"You can stay if you want to!" someone shouted back at him. So there were people stupider than the idiot Shiny Head. They were the types that followed the crowd and didn't think things out. They were far too easy to persuade. They clearly had the intelligence of mollusks.

Well, it wasn't her problem if they were very nearly brainless. And it wasn't her problem if they died either. "I wonder how many of those idiots will die because of their stupidity," Lucy said.

Kurapica glared at her.

Lucy shrugged.

"So, what are we going to do?" Gon asked.

"That guy has a point though," Leorio said. "Maybe we should also try to sail to Zebil Island."

"I'm just saying that we should continue with care," Kurapica argued.

"Yeah, I know but…"

"I believe Kurapica is correct," Hanzo said. "But I'm not too sure about just waiting until nightfall. "We'll split up and find more information about the island."

* * *

The number of shipwrecks around the island was bugging Lucy, so rather than searching for clues, Lucy decided to figure out what had caused them. While it wouldn't have been strange if there were only a few of them, there were hundreds of them scattered around the island from who knew how long ago.

Lucy stood on the deck of the ship and focused her nen to her ears to enhance her hearing. From what she knew of him so far, Gon's senses were extremely sharp… she wondered how he had honed them to be great. Perhaps he had lived in the wild during his childhood or something. Maybe what he had thought he heard was important…

A wind. An angry wind. A storm? Was that what Gon heard? The wind was roaring somewhere in the distance… frightened animal calls sounded. But it hadn't come anywhere near this island yet… Everything near the island was still calm. Gon's hearing was truly something else…

Turning around to go back into the ship, she noticed something on the walls of the ship. Maroon barnacles. Going all the way up the mast of the ship. Had the water level risen that high at some point…? Was that why so many of the rooms inside the ship had moss growing in them? Was that why there were so many ship wrecks?

* * *

It was already evening. Gon, Killua, Lucy, Kurapica, Leorio, and Hanzo met inside the ship to discuss what they had found. Hanzo had already gotten there and complained that no matter how much he tried to convince the other people that they should wait a little longer before they left, they wouldn't listen. Lucy hadn't been surprised in the least, but she couldn't figure out why he would even bother trying to reason with them. Somewhere along the line before she got there, Hanzo had been elected as the leader and Kurapica elected second-in-command. If the idiot Shiny Head was leading them, they were doomed. But if it was just this one time, he seemed to have some good points, so maybe she'd listen.

Gon and Killua had found the ship's log. Apparently, the ship had been bolted at the island during wartime so that it could be used as a lighthouse and was written by a general during that time. Zebil Island was close – they could reach it in a day by boat.

"Wait," Lucy said. "I think there's something we're missing…"

"What do you mean?" Hanzo asked.

"Did you guys see how the barnacles on the mast of the ship?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Kurapica said. "I was wondering about that."

"Barnacles?" Hanzo said. "Does that mean water level rose all the way to the mast?"

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know. I found that out when I was trying to figure out why there were so many ship wrecks here… But I think a storm's coming."

"How come?" Leorio asked. "There's not a cloud in the sky."

"Ponzu speaking," a voice came in from the old-fashioned speaker. It was the green-haired girl's voice. So her name was Ponzu? "There's noise on the radio now."

"There must be some changes in the atmosphere," Pockle's voice said.

Everybody ran to the window. The storm had been far off earlier… was it here now? Had it come closer to them? She had hoped it would veer off course.

"The birds…" Gon said. "They're frightened."

Everything she had heard at a distance before she was now hearing right in front of her. The birds were flying in a panic – they only flew in such chaos when something bad was going to happen. Shalnark had told her that animals had always been more perceptive than humans. One bird bashed into the window.

"W-what is that?" Hanzo asked.

"The atmosphere… is bent," Kurapica said.

Lucy looked to see what they were talking about. Instead of a normal sunset on the horizon, there were two. It was if someone had used a mirror to reflect the first sunset above itself…

"I can hear it again!" Gon exclaimed. "I hear it from the ocean! The sound is getting closer."

"I can hear it too," Killua said.

"Yeah. That's why I said there was a storm coming…" Lucy added.

"July 4th – We detected a distortion in the electricity…We prepared to move away," Kurapica read from the ship's log. "We, the garrison, will head toward the east tomorrow morning to escape. Tomorrow after sunset, we predict the first wave… we must leave before then. This happens exactly every ten years…"

Running out to the deck, they all saw the typhoon heading towards them…

* * *

So many PoV changes in this chapter... geez. Well, hope you enjoyed it~

I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but I doubt daily updates will be possible anymore.

Do take the time to review~ Con/crit is highly appreciated =D


	16. Third Exam Extra: Southern Island 3

Alright, sorry for the delayed update... I'm already swamped in homework. *sigh*

At least the chapter is about twice as long as usual.

But anyways, my sis has informed me that Lucy is very annoying and bratty and I should express her feelings more, so I shall try to do so in the next few chapters.

My sis says she feels no sympathy for Lucy whatsoever because she doesn't understand why Lucy does things. She also says I'm terrible at expressing people's emotions. I'll try to work on it. I tend to forget that it's my story so I know what's going on, but everybody who is reading my story is not psychic, and therefore, cannot read my mind.

She also says I need more fluff scenes. And that my comic relief is often terrible. And that she doesn't know what Lucy thinks of Gon and Kurapica and Killua and Leorio. So after I finish growing mushrooms as I feel sorry for myself in the corner, I'll try to figure out how to express things better.

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, havanatitiana, and Snowy-Sonya, as well as anyone who has alerted/favorited my story~

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

**

* * *

Natural Selection x Water x Uncertainty**

An icy wind ripped past them. Even though it was barely past sunset, it was as dark as it should have been at midnight. Only the occasional flash of lightning would illuminate the darkness. The booming thunder was the fury of the heavens. The unbridled waves crashed down on the ship.

From where she was, Lucy could see the boats of those idiots being drawn towards the twisting typhoon. They screamed in terror as they were sucked up into the sky. Lucy watched indifferently. They had been warned. And they hadn't listened. If they died, it was because they were too stupid to live. There was even a scientific name for that – natural selection. Survival of the fittest. You died? Oh well. You just weren't 'fit' enough.

"Hey! Look!" Gon shouted over the wind. Unlike Lucy, he seemed alarmed by the scene before them. "The ships are getting pulled in! At this rate…"

"No, Gon!" Kurapica yelled, pulling Gon back, although he too looked as if he wanted to do something about what was happening. "It's too late to help…"

The billowing wind easily picked up another ship and crushed it to smithereens. Each of the passengers screamed their last breaths away. Even the remaining debris of the ship was swept up in the wind.

"Gereta!" the man who always had a monkey on his shoulder shouted.

Lucy saw the dark-skinned man, Examinee 384, being swept away by the strong waves. All the other examinees on the boat had turned towards him as well. With a determined look on his face, Gon jumped into the ocean without a second thought.

"Gon!" Killua shouted.

Gon was being naïve again. Saving that man would benefit him in no way. It was just like with the fox-girl in the Trick Tower. He was making the same mistake. That man was another examinee – he was their competitor for the title of "Hunter". If anything, saving the man would only harm him in the future. The water washed over the deck.

"The water is going to sink the boat!" Kurapica said.

"Everyone get away from the water! Hurry!" Hanzo exclaimed.

The examinees began running back into the boat, but Lucy just stood there wondering what she should be doing. She noticed that Killua hadn't moved either. She wondered why she didn't just run inside with the rest of them… That was clearly the smarter decision, wasn't it? She found herself thinking back to the final decision they had made in the Trick Tower again. It was funny how she had lived with the Spiders her entire life, and yet she seemed to prioritize these weak, pathetic, nen-less people almost as highly as them.

"Hanzo, the boat!" Kurapica shouted.

"Let's go!" Hanzo agreed.

Untying the life boat from the ship, Hanzo and Killua jumped on. Lucy looked over at them from the railing of the ship. Two older men ran over with oars and jumped over the edge of the boat to help Killua and Hanzo. Making her decision in that split second, Lucy followed them.

* * *

The water was even rougher where they were now than it had been by the ship. And here, they only had a tiny little boat that could easily be sunk or overturned by the weakest of these waves. The two men with the oars steered the boat carefully. How they managed to prevent it from capsizing was beyond Lucy.

From where she was, Lucy could see Gon had climbed onto Gereta's precariously rocking boat. It was fairing no better than their own. It tipped from side to side, threatening to be swallowed by the waves.

"Go!" Gon shouted, tossing his fishing rod line towards their boat.

It whistled through the air, fighting against it. It was a risky move – the strong wind could easily blow it off path. But it was their best bet in this situation.

Standing, Killua reached up to grab the red ball attached to the end of the line. So far, it was right on track. It whizzed closer to them. The boat swayed back and forth.

A sudden wave came up from underneath them. Before Lucy realized what she was doing, she had stood up. Killua was shouting something. She wondered what it was – the wind was too loud. She couldn't hear him.

They were drifting away from the line. Lucy leaned overboard and wondered what she was doing this for. For what purpose? This was her second moronic decision today – her first being to get on this boat. Well whatever. It was too late to ponder her choices now.

Lucy tossed the red ball to Killua before falling into the icy water.

* * *

Killua's eyes widened. The line was right there. It was so close. But not close enough… Suddenly, Lucy stood up.

"Hey!" Hanzo yelled at her.

"What are you doing?" Killua shouted.

She glanced at him but didn't respond. Then she leaned overboard, grabbed the red ball, threw it to him, and fell into the water.

That stupid Mop Head! Killua doubted she could swim in this current. Only Gon could do something like that. And although he still hadn't figured out how she had killed that Majitani guy so fast, she clearly didn't have the physical strength to outlast the raging sea.

After tying Gon's line to a rope that he then proceeded to toss it to Hanzo.

"I'm going to go get her!" Killua yelled above the wind.

* * *

The water rushed past her face. Her lungs screamed for air, but every time she same towards the surface she was pulled back under. She tried to concentrate her nen in her hands and feet to make swimming easier, but even then, the waves were too strong. She was getting drawn towards the whirlpool created by the tsunami. But at this rate, she might drown before she even made it there.

Lucy struggled once more to breach the surface but was thrust deeper down than she had been before. She needed air. How long had she been under now? It could have been seconds; it could have been minutes. The only way she knew it wasn't hours was that she hadn't passed out yet.

Her body was numb from the frozen waters. It was too dark to see where she was. She couldn't even see the surface. Where was up? Where was down? She didn't know.

She wasn't going to lose to this stupid ocean like the rest of those examinees. It would be a disgrace to the Spiders. She was better than that.

But she could feel it… her consciousness. It was slipping away. She fought it, but she knew it was no use…

Huh? Who? Someone had grabbed her hand. They were pulling her… Where…? She was probably hallucinating…

* * *

Gagging the salty sea water, Lucy was jolted awake. She was lying down somewhere on the ship. She wondered how she had gotten out of the water… she was reminded of the first exam. Someone had helped her – again. Last time it was Hisoka. This time who…?

Killua sat next to her, sleeping. His clothes were soaked through, and a slight puddle of water had formed on the floor near him. A wet towel was draped over his shoulders, his silvery hair still dripping slightly.

Had it been Killua who had helped her…? Lucy felt flustered for reasons she couldn't explain. Even though she was still shivering from the chilly water, her face was hot. Well it wasn't like she had asked for the favor, so she didn't owe him anything. Right? Right? Right?

She glanced towards Killua's sleeping face. Well who cared if it was Killua who had helped her? She certainly didn't. Her face wasn't hot because it had been him who had helped her. It was obviously hot because she had a fever from being in that cold water! Yeah, that was it!

In that case, she would definitely have to get some rest later. Being sick was no good. Shalnark had warned her not to get sick, since she wasn't like Phinks who never got sick.

But wait. She could assume Killua had helped her because he was her…friend, she supposed. But what about Hisoka in the first exam? Why had he bothered to take her to the second exam center? She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Right now she needed to figure out what had happened since she had passed out.

"Hmm…" a sly voice said from the corner.

Lucy froze. Hisoka. How had he managed to get in here without her noticing? How awfully convenient – getting in here right while she was thinking about him. "When did you get here?" she asked, hostility coating her voice.

"My, my," Hisoka said as he tapped an ace of spades to his pale lips, curled into a twisted smile. "Awfully feisty, aren't we? We'll soon be seeing a lot more of each other too. "

Lucy gritted her teeth. He was trying to provoke her… slowly emitting his ren. But what did he mean that they would soon be seeing a lot more of each other?

"You know, it would ruin my fun if you died… you shouldn't be quite so rash next time," Hisoka cooed. "It's too early for you~ "

"Why would I want to see any more of you?" Lucy demanded, materializing the claw-like blades on her gloves.

"Hmm…How interesting~" Hisoka said. "It appears as if they have neglected to tell their still-ripening fruit anything. "

Lucy glared at him icily. Who was this "they" he was referring to? Assuming she was the… "still ripening fruit" what weren't they telling her?

He was definitely messing with her head. "…What do you want?" she asked.

"So ungrateful," Hisoka said ruefully. "I just wanted to warn you, Little Lady~ "

Little Lady? What kind of nickname was that..? Either way, the way he said it made her want to shudder. "How come you're helping me?"

A cunning grin spread upon Hisoka's face. "Losing sight of a still-ripening fruit would be no fun… It's far more interesting to watch it ripen. "

If it were not for the fact that he could easily kill both her and Killua, Lucy would have replied quite sarcastically to his remarks, because he was making her spine crawl. What was with all those stupid fruit metaphors? But he really was that dangerous. She put her claws in front of her to form a guarding stance.

"What are you talking about?" she hissed.

Hisoka seemed amused by her actions, but then he did the strangest thing… He just walked off, chuckling evilly to himself.

* * *

Killua wasn't really asleep. He had woken up the instant he had felt the bloodlust radiating from Hisoka. It was stronger than what he had felt back at the Trick Tower. His first instinct had been to run. Ever since birth, he had been taught to never fight someone stronger than him… the fear instilled in him back then had made doing so impossible. And that fear had clouded his emotions… But sometimes it was safer to play dead than to escape.

Countless questions were now bouncing around Killua's mind. He didn't know what to make of what he had just heard. The only question he had an answer to was why Hisoka had helped her in the first exam… he had wanted to observe her longer. Everything else he had learned had just left him more questions… More than ever, he wanted to know who Lucy really was…. And what she was hiding.

Killua decided to continue feigning sleep until Lucy left. At that point, he would search out Gon and help him with whatever he was up to.

* * *

Kurapica flipped through the pages of the book. Although he knew he needed to concentrate, it was almost impossible. How was he supposed to concentrate in this sort of situation? What if he was wrong about something? What if he messed up? He could cost everybody the exam… maybe even their lives.

But he couldn't afford to be unsure of himself. If he was unsure of himself, nobody would be able to trust his guidance. He felt the sweaty grip of his hands, clasped in tight fists at his side. Everybody else was working at their individual jobs. He needed to work at his.

Kurapica turned around, hearing the click of the door opening. Lucy invited herself in, her long hair still dripping with water. As usual, she seemed to evaluate the situation before saying anything. She was the type to think before she spoke, even though some of the things she said were really heartless. He thought it was odd that she didn't seem to care if people died. The way she acted, one would think she didn't value the lives of others at all.

If there was one thing he really didn't like about her, that was most certainly it. For her to act that way, she obviously didn't understand how painful it was when someone died. Kurapica knew that better than anyone. She, on the other hand, knew nothing. For a second, he felt fury grasping at his insides – she didn't understand anything. She couldn't even _imagine_ what it was like.

Everybody, even the most horrible people, usually had someone who cared about them. And that someone would probably be devastated if that person were gone. Lucy didn't seem to take any of that into account. She had the potential to be incredibly ruthless… perhaps even more so than Killua.

"So you're awake?" Kurapica asked, still thinking. But even if she was ruthless against some people, she had jumped off the boat to make sure Gon was okay. Of course that could have just been an accident, but Killua had said she had made sure to toss Gon's fishing line to him and Hanzo. Certain people seemed to mean a lot to her. The lives of everybody else were worthless.

"Yeah," she said. "Killua's still sleeping in the room back there though."

"Ah, okay," Kurapica said.

"What's going on now? Everybody's rushing all over the place…"

Oh, right. Lucy had been unconscious since the first wave… she wouldn't know what was happening. "There's going to be a second wave coming in a few hours… we're preparing to combat it."

Lucy a bit surprised by that, but not terribly so. Rather, she looked more annoyed by it. "What's the plan then?" she asked.

"Well – "

"Kurapica," Hanzo announced over the speakers. "Both the first and second cannons aren't damaged too badly. We can fire continuously. We've figured out how to load the cannons."

"Okay. Got it."

"Now all we have to do is actually set the artillery shells. I hope Leorio really found the shells. There doesn't seem to be even a single one left on the ship."

Kurapica cut off the connection and turned back towards Lucy. Even though he had managed to keep his head so far, he was stressed. There was so much pressure… The cost of making a mistake was so high…

"So what do you want me to do?" Lucy asked. Kurapica was surprised that she wanted to help at all. But then again, it probably wasn't because she wanted to save anyone else. In her case, it was probably because she, herself, didn't want to die.

"Well," Kurapica said thoughtfully. "All the important jobs are being handled already… just stay here for now."

"Okay."

Kurapica turned his gaze towards the ocean stretching its expanses outside the window. It was now reflecting the beautiful colors of dusk once more… The bent atmosphere displayed itself as well… It was nothing more than another omen towards their possible doom.

He couldn't afford to wait any longer. He bolted over to the speaker, urgently demanding to know how the engine was.

"Pockle, how is it?" Ponzu asked from the other side.

"Almost ready," Pockle replied.

"Did you hear?" Ponzu asked. "We've connected the power lines to the cannons. Now just pray the engine works."

"Okay," Kurapica said. "Countdown to commence the operation."

"We've got a problem," Hanzo said from another speaker. "Leorio hasn't come back up… There's only one diving suit."

Kurapica's eyes widened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucy freeze for a moment.

What should he do? Leorio might already be dead. No, no… It couldn't be. Leorio wasn't dead. Leorio wouldn't die. This couldn't be happening…

"It's likely that we won't be able to help him," Hanzo continued. "I'll leave the final decision to you. Understood?"

Kurapica barely heard Hanzo's words. He was too shocked. Was Leorio already dead? Was it because of a miscalculation on his part? Was it his fault that Leorio died?

Evidently Lucy had regained her movement, because she was shaking him. "Kurapica!" she shouted. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Kurapica didn't know what to do. His mind was blank.

"Kurapica! Listen to me! You aren't going to get anything done by standing here like a scarecrow!"

She was right. Kurapica knew that. But still…

"It hasn't been confirmed that Leorio's dead yet! Pull yourself together!"

No. Not "But still…" He couldn't act like that. Doing nothing would get nothing done. Even if Leorio had died, he would only lose more people by just standing around doing nothing. He had to move on. He had to keep going.

"Kurapica? Can you hear?" Hanzo asked over the speaker. "Gon went to help. We'll let Gon help Leorio. By the way, look outside. The tornado is getting closer. We should be able to calculate how long we have before it gets here. We need operation codes. Killua and I are going to the main cannon."

"Roger."

Kurapica took a deep breath. If Lucy hadn't managed to calm him down, he might not have even heard Hanzo. Panicking was the worst thing he could possibly do.

"Kurapica, the tornado's moving at about two hundred meters per minute. Here!" Lucy exclaimed, tossing him a calculator and a pencil.

"Thanks," Kurapica said, looking towards her to see a smirk spread across her face.

"Looks like you finally got your act together," she said smoothly.

Kurapica grinned. Maybe she wasn't nearly as heartless as he had thought…

He solved the equation.

"Alright," Kurapica said through the speaker that connected to all of the rest of the speakers on the ship. "All crew, listen up. The ship is nearing contact with the tornado. The wind pressure is going to increase. In approximately ten minutes, at 18:30, we will fire all canons. We will destroy the rocks, and at the same time, start the engines. At that point, we'll escape from here. All stations prepare to finish operations. On my mark, we will start counting down to commence the operation. Start!"

Lucy stood next to Kurapica. Even though she had looked so confident a second ago, she looked worried now.

"…Gon will save Leorio, right?" she asked.

So she was also worried about them. The only difference between her and him was that she had managed to continue thinking straight, despite her worry.

"Yeah," Kurapica said, nodding. He hoped he was right.

"Reporting from the lower deck," someone said over the speaker. "The process of sending water in is progressing steadily. This should make the ship quite stable."

"Good job," Kurapica said, returning his attention to the speakers. "Connect me with the engine room."

Kurapica waited a second and then addressed the two in the engine room. "Pockle, how is it?" he asked.

"We just completed calibrating the four turbines," Pockle replied. "All twelve boilers are up to full pressure. About to start connecting."

Kurapica heard Pockle's footsteps retreating. It wasn't long before they came running back.

"All four engines are running properly! Sending power to the four cannon pressure pumps," Pockle announced. "Connect the power."

"Roger," Kurapica said. "Now just wait to connect the power with the turbines."

Then he went to the generator room's speaker. "Generator room, start sending power to the cannons and connect the cannon circuits. Disconnect all the others."

"Generator room here. Roger."

He waited another few seconds before turning towards the firing room's speaker. "Firing room. You ready?"

"Ready for what?" the bored voice of a woman replied. "It's just a wall."

"Wait for the signal."

They could do this. They could get out of this situation… all that was left now was whether or not Gon would save Leorio…

Lucy was now pacing back and forth saying how pathetic Gon would be if he couldn't even save Leorio. And not only that, but Gon was an idiot. If he failed in saving Leorio, he might die too.

She continued on her rant.

Kurapica couldn't say he was feeling any better than she was. But if he did nothing, they would all die.

"Kurapica," Hanzo's voice said. "We can't wait any longer. Fire the cannons! Hey! Kurapica! We have no choice…"

"Kurapica, Gon is bringing Leorio up!" Killua shouted.

Kurapica let out a sigh of relief. Gon and Leorio were safe. Lucy had frozen mid-pace at the news.

"Got it!" Kurapica said, running over to another speaker. "All crew members, firing canons in thirty seconds. Target: straight ahead of the watchtower. Fire continuously! Then reload all cannons. Fire again in forty seconds! Everyone prepare for the recoil! Twenty more seconds!"

"…FIRE!"

The explosion rocked the ship precariously.

"Check the ship's condition! Meanwhile, prepare for the second round! Engine room, send power to the turbines in forty seconds.

"…FIRE!"

"Turbines are working properly," Pockle's voice came in.

"Good, we can make it. Use the force from the third round to push us away from the rock. Prepare to fire! …FIRE!"

The ship was pushed back from the wall. Gon and Leorio had escaped. They were sav –

Suddenly, the ship leaned sharply. Slamming into the opposite wall, Kurapica blacked out.

* * *

If Lucy hadn't lessened the impact with her nen, she would have been knocked out just like Kurapica. She had to give it to him. Kurapica could be quite the leader from time to time… she wouldn't be surprised at all if his nen type was specialization. But he was still useless if he was unconscious. And she didn't know how to steer the boat.

"Kurapica, we can't stop the tornado from pushing the ship onto its side," Hanzo warned. "It's going to capsize! Any ideas?"

Lucy was still trying to stand up again so she didn't reply.

"Kurapica? Respond!"

"He – " Lucy began, stumbling around, trying to regain her balance. "He's unconscious, you idiot Shiny Head!"

"Damn it," Hanzo cursed.

"Hanzo, shoot the tornado," Killua said from the background.

Killua had thought of that? She clearly would have thought of that too if it weren't for this situation. That's what Shalnark would have done.

…No. She was lying to herself saying that…

"What?" she heard Hanzo ask. It appeared that he wasn't smart enough to figure out why they should do that. At least she was smart enough to know that. But that was why he was the idiot Shiny Head.

"Push the ship back up with the pressure," Killua continued. "We might be able to change the tornado's direction as well. We can kill two birds with one stone."

Lucy could almost see Killua's smirk.

Hearing the wheel spin, Lucy jerked her head around. A tall man wearing a red and black outfit walked in… Examinee 301.

Wait.

Wasn't he Frankenstein-like before?

All his pins were gone. She had known he could use nen. Was that his ability…?

He glanced towards her. His eyes were blank. A black, bottomless abyss. Emotionless.

"Who…?" Lucy asked.

He turned back to the steering wheel. He obviously wasn't going to answer her. So she took that time to bandage Kurapica's now bleeding wound. Even if he was going to die eventually if he ever actually managed to face the Phantom Troupe, it didn't hurt to help him now.

* * *

Okay, Southern Island arc is complete.

Now I gotta figure out how to write Zebil Island...

But anyways, I'd like to know what everybody else thinks of Lucy besides just my sis. Is there anything that bothers you about her? Do you agree with my sis?

Oh, and, is there anything I should improve on with my writing in general? Description/Emotional expression/Comic Relief/Suspense?

My sis says I do a lot of info dumping...

Reviews and Con/crit are highly appreciated~


	17. Fourth Exam 1

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi~

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Mimitalind, Snowy-Sonya, and AcPa xox~

**

* * *

Fourth Exam x Cards x Call**

It wasn't until the next morning that the Hunter Committee's blimp arrived. After releasing the ship from the cliff, it had sailed into the ocean… which soon became calm, as if nothing had ever happened. The ocean was a serene blue, the sun peeking over the horizon. Only a few white wisps of the former thick layer of black remained in the sky. It was the sort of scene one would see on the front of a postcard.

And as it turned out, Lippo was not only the third examiner, but also the fourth examiner. And again, he stood in front of them, explaining what they were going to do next. This time though, he was not taking them on a "vacation." This time, he explained, they would be playing a hunting game – each of them would have a predator, and each of them would have their own prey. They were to draw lots to find out who their prey was… Their predator? No one knew.

Lucy stared at the card she had drawn. When it had been her turn to drawn the lots, her heart had been pounding. The numbers she hadn't wanted: 44, 99, 301, 403, 404, 405. Of course she knew why she didn't want 44 or 301… and perhaps 405. Gon – 405 – was such a stupidly sweet kid that she might feel bad going after him. And he had treated her like his friend back at the Trick Tower. So she couldn't just ask for his badge and take off with it (although she was sure that he was gullible enough that that would work.)

Now as for 403 and 404 – she wasn't quite sure why she didn't want to draw their numbers. Leorio was a lot like Gon – but not as innocent. He was overly gullible and easily swindled. Kurapica was such a goody-goody. He was smart enough to lead them all during the crisis on the ship, but, at the same time, he just _had_ to play the hero and decide that he wanted to go after the Phantom Troupe. Which was just plain moronic.

Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio all needed to get a reality check. The world wasn't the little fantasy dreamland that they seemed to think it was.

The only one who didn't consistently prove that he needed a reality check was Killua, but she still couldn't figure out why he would have sided with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio in the Trick Tower. Maybe he had pressed the wrong button or something.

But whatever. As long as it wasn't Hisoka or that weirdo 301 who had picked her plate, she would be fine. This exam would be easy. And fun. She loved hunts. She was the predator.

**

* * *

Day 1**

They had entered the island in the order of which they had finished the challenge of the Trick Tower. Once her number had been called, she had concentrated her nen to her feet to give her a temporary speed boost. She might as well get ahead while she still could.

Lucy observed the scenery of the island, contemplating how she would survive this for the next week – the time span over which the exam would take place. At least she didn't have white hair like Killua. Her hair blended easily with the scenery… although her clothes, not so much.

Whatever the case, the first thing Shalnark would do in an unknown territory was find a source of water, so she could start with that. Then she needed to find something edible… her stock of vanilla candy bars in her bag was running pretty low.

Lucy quietly made her way through the forest. It wasn't terribly overgrown – there were some clear pathways – but in some spots, it was still quite out of control. She hadn't been by herself for awhile… she found herself reminiscing…

_The abandoned building was dilapidated, with occasional pieces of debris falling from the ceiling. A small breeze made its way through tiny cracks in the walls, whistling as it passed. Spider webs stuck to the corners of the ceiling, ancient insect corpses still forever entrapped in the location of their demise. _

_What remained of the concrete flooring was cold under Luelle's bare knees. She blew on her cold fingers, in a futile attempt to make them warmer. Her shoes still felt awkward on her feet… She had been so used to running around barefoot. Since they had left Meteor City, Shalnark had actually gotten her some decent clothes – that weren't in tatters – but that didn't mean what she was wearing now was warm in the cold winter._

_Kuro-chan sat on a fallen pillar in the corner of the room. Everyone else – Naganaga-kun, Ubou, Franklin, Shal, Machi, and Paku – were scattered around the room, sitting on splintering wood and other fallen pillars. Shal, Franklin, and Nobunaga were playing cards in the corner. Luelle, three years old at the time, looked over Shal's shoulder curiously. _

"_Shal-nii, I wanna play!" she whined._

_Shal sighed. "Luelle, do you even know what we're playing?"_

"_Of course I know!"_

"_Lu…"_

"_Oh c'mon!" Naganaga-kun laughed. "Let her play!"_

"_It won't do any harm," Franklin added._

"_Yeah, yeah," Shal said, picking her up and putting her in his lap. She looked at his cards excitedly. A jack of diamonds, a nine of hearts, a king of spades, a joker, and a two of diamonds. Hmm… So his next move should be… Hmph! So what if she didn't know? She had lied about knowing how to play, but she had wanted attention. They were all so much older than her… a lot of the time they just ignored her._

"_Shal-nii, when are we going back home?"_

"_Home? You mean Meteor City?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_We aren't going back."_

"_Why not?"_

_Ubou looked over from the other side of the room. "Good question kid… I wonder why?"_

"_Durham Jets's wish has yet to be completely fulfilled," Kuro-chan answered calmly. "He shall not rest in peace until it has…"_

"_I thought we were finished with that once those involved were dead," Ubou said._

"_No," Kuro-chan replied. "That was only his wish for revenge… Durham left because he no longer wanted to be unknown to society."_

"_So we have to become known then?" Paku said. _

"_How shall we go about fulfilling it?" Shal asked. _

"_Well, there are many ways we could go about doing so…" Kuro-chan chuckled. "Why don't we start by seeing how the government retaliates against our first action?_

"_What? Why do we have to wait? Waiting is boring…" Ubou complained._

"_Hahahahaha! Much is gained by waiting!" Naganaga-kun said merrily._

"_It won't hurt to wait," Machi agreed._

"_Waiting is fine by me," Paku added._

"_Then wait we shall," Shal said. _

A bubbling brook swerved through the much-weathered rocks, winding around the tree roots protruding from the bank. Lucy dipped her hand in the cool water, feeling the liquid rush past her fingers. Several leaves drifted downstream, slowly sinking into the stream.

Lucy hadn't talked to Gon, Killua, Kurapica, or Leorio since they had drawn their lots… she wondered if one of them had drawn her number, and, if they had, what they would do. Would they hunt her down or go hunt three other random people? She splashed some water on her face. Well, if it was Gon, he'd go hunt three other people. She could definitely say that for sure. Leorio would probably do the same as Gon… Kurapica, on the other hand, didn't seem to like her very much (not that she liked him much either) … he could go either way.

But what would Killua do?

Hmm…

Probably like Kurapica: either way.

But that bugged her.

So maybe he would go after the three other people.

But that bugging her wasn't going to affect Killua's reasoning.

So maybe he would go after her.

But that bugged her.

So maybe he'd go after the three other people.

But it wasn't like Killua could read minds and know that that bugged her.

But it did!

And and and… Why in the world did it matter to her anyways?

She dunked her entire head in the water. Dunking one's head in the water did wonders for clearing it…

Putting that beside the point, now she should go find some food.

…..

…

…

Nah. She didn't feel like it. Lucy sat down and pulled out a candy bar from her bag.

**

* * *

Day 2**

"Hello?" Lucy asked into the phone. As she sat in a tree in the middle of who-knew-where on Zebil Island, she had decided to call Kuroro again. And, unlike last time, her call had gone through.

"Ah, Luelle," Kuroro answered. "It took you awhile to call."

"Umm… yeah. Sorry. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You shouldn't run off on your own like that, Luelle."

"Shal already told me that…"

"Heh, I'm not surprised. But anyways, you should go to the Celestial Tower for training purposes."

"The Celestial Tower? How come?"

"Ubougin and Phinks have informed me that you have been avoiding your physical training. The Celestial Tower would be a good place for you to train."

"…Oh," Lucy said disappointedly. Phinks… that jerk. He just didn't want to acknowledge that she was strong! She _did_ have nen after all… and physical training was such a drag…

"Go there as soon as you finish the Hunter Exam."

"Alright. Oh yeah, how come you wanted me to call you for that?"

Kuroro paused for a moment. "Did Phinks and Feitan tell you that we finally have a Number 4?"

Lucy blinked. They had a Number 4 now? That position had always been empty… "Since when?" she asked.

"About two years ago."

"And they didn't tell me..?" Lucy asked grimly. Wait. She felt like someone had told her that "they" didn't tell her anything a little while ago.

"I suppose not. In any case, he's also taking the Hunter Exam this year. Take care."

"Huh?" Lucy asked, but it was already too late. Kuroro had hung up.

Who in the world was this new Number 4…? Who was this new addition to her family..? She wondered if he was someone from Meteor City. A lot of times Kuroro went back home to pick up members.

But that wasn't really her top priority right now, so Lucy sighed, looking towards the sky. It was already midday, and she still didn't have the slightest idea where her target was. Thinking about it though, Lucy realized she didn't really have to go after her target. Rather, she could go after three random people. She could take down most of the people here at the exam, besides Hisoka and 301.

…

Hisoka or 301.

One of them had to be Number 4. They were the only two with nen – a basic requirement for joining the Spiders.

Was it Hisoka…? He was the one who had told her that 'they' didn't tell her anything… The Spiders weren't hiding anything from her were they? ...No, of course not. They wouldn't do that. They had just forgotten to mention Hisoka to her…

She would think about that later.

Back on topic, she was not about to fail this exam because she couldn't find her target. If it was Phinks or Feitan, they definitely would have already taken care of three random people. Well, maybe not. If it was Feitan, he might be having so much fun torturing them that he had neglected to get their badges.

Well, in order to get the badges of three random people, she would first have to find those three random people. So far, she hadn't run into anyone at all. Lucy jumped down from the tree.

The second she hit the ground, someone immediately greeted her, "Hey, Mop Head."

What a nice way to say hello. Lucy turned to face the white-haired boy, who she promptly replied to, saying, "Oh, it's Gray Hair."

* * *

Okay then~ I gotta say, earlier today, I was reading _Trouble is a Friend_ by EtherealMay~ Loved it! xD

And then I realized, "Wow Lucy is a lot like an immature version of Ginger..."

And then I thought, "I wonder if my story is as interesting as _Trouble is a Friend_.." When I write my story, I can't tell if my story is interesting at all D; So I went to go ask my sister. And she said she didn't know T-T...

I drew another pic of Lucy, the link is on my profile. Hope you enjoyed the chapter~

Reviews and con/crit are highly appreciated~


	18. Fourth Exam 2

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox, Mimitalind, and angelofdeath1119~

* * *

**Ubou x Experiment x 198**

It was still only the second day of the exam, and here she was, already travelling with Killua. She wasn't going to get a break from him was she? Somehow, someway, she always up with him again… How annoying. He wouldn't go away. …But even though she said that, she really didn't mind it all that much…

Something rustled in the bushes as Killua glanced back towards her. They were trudging through the forest, but that didn't stop him from munching on his never-ending supply of chocolate. Although she would have understood if it was vanilla, it was chocolate, and the amount he ate of it was no short of sickening. How could he stand to eat so much chocolate? Really, she was quite convinced he had dysfunctional taste buds.

Or maybe he was like Ubou. Ubou could eat anything – even Feitan and Machi's cooking – like it was the greatest feast he had ever laid his eyes (or stomach) upon. How he could digest any of it was far beyond her…

"_Want some?" Ubou had asked her, offering her a bowl of bubbling brew with purple fumes emanating from it. "It's good!"_

_She looked at him curiously. Shalnark had warned her never to try something made by Feitan… but Ubou was just fine with it, so why would it affect her? She smiled. "Okay!" she exclaimed._

"_Hahahahaha!" Nobunaga laughed from the side. He leaned against the wall, his arms tucked into his sleeves. "She's a brave kid!"_

_She stuck her tongue out at him, accepting the bowl from Ubou. Like she'd be anything but brave! When she grew up, she was going to be cool like them – not cowardly and weak. Of course she could handle something like this! She already had the tattoo of the Spider… she would never disgrace it by being too afraid to even try a new food!_

…_._

_A few seconds later, she had found herself thinking that that dish was quite a formidable opponent! The horrid taste, vile fumes, the awkward chunks of who-knew-what… She gagged on it, but she wouldn't lose to it! Nobunaga was watching her, astounded that anyone besides Ubou could even dare to try such a concoction. Ubou guffawed loudly, telling Nobunaga that this was only proof that the stew was actually pretty good. Feitan and Shalnark walked into the room._

"_Who take my new experiment? I want try it out on some victims…" Feitan growled._

_She, Nobunaga, and Ubou had all turned to face Feitan and Shalnark. ...What had he just said?_

"_You used that plant I just discovered didn't you? It's perfect for torturing isn't it?" Shalnark asked innocently, still ignorant of the situation._

_She stopped gulping the soup down mid-sip. …Perfect for torturing? What the heck had Ubou just fed her?_

"_What are you two talking about?" Ubou laughed. "I didn't find your experiment Feitan, but I did find this delicious soup!"_

_In an instant, Feitan was over by the huge cauldron Ubou had placed on top of the table. He turned towards Ubou, glaring daggers at him. "That my experiment."_

"_It was?" Ubou asked. _

"_Yes. Now give back."_

_Feitan, taking the cauldron, walked out of the room. In the meanwhile, Shalnark had run over to her and started lecturing her that he had told her to avoid dangerous substances before proceeding to check her temperature and yelling at Ubou. Ubou couldn't figure out what was wrong with Shalnark – Feitan's experiment obviously wasn't dangerous, in fact, it was quite good – while Nobunaga shook his head in the corner. She was bedridden for several weeks after that…_

Yeah, that was it! Killua was probably like Ubou. If he wasn't, there was no way he could eat so much of a simply revolting food like chocolate. For that matter, how could chocolate even be considered a food? Bleh. So repulsive. Perhaps even worse than Feitan's experiment…

"What's taking you, Mop Head? You're slower than a tortoise," Killua said.

"It's not my fault you're on a sugar rush after eating all that chocolate," Lucy replied irritably. So what if she was taking her time? There was no harm in it.

"Well what else should I do? This exam is so _boring_!" he complained. "I thought that, this one at least, would be some fun!"

"It would have been, but considering that the only person whose company has graced me so far is the moronic Gray Hair, I must say I agree with you," Lucy said, sighing as if he was hopeless. If there was one thing that kept this game interesting, it was annoying Killua. A smirk crept its way onto her lips.

"I could have at least run into Gon instead of a stupid Mop Head…" Killua went on, casually putting his hands behind his head. "I mean, if I was gonna get followed around by a violent girl, she could at least be cute."

_At least_ be cute? Oh yeah? "Or maybe he just can't admit how cute he really finds her, and so he insults her and calls her violent?" Lucy crowed slyly.

"As if I'd need to lie about something like that," Killua continued, whistling.

A branch cracked behind them – someone was following them. She could hear his breathing… but no matter. He wasn't even skilled enough to hide his presence. She disregarded him.

"Oh?" It took Lucy a mere second to focus her nen in her feet to propel herself in front of him. "Really?" she asked, stuffing a vanilla candy bar in his mouth, knowing that his dysfunctional taste buds did not appreciate the full worth of vanilla. "You still wanna say that?"

"What the hell did you just feed me?" Killua blurted angrily. "This is disgusting!"

"Your chocolate obsession is disgusting," she replied.

"You're the only one who thinks that!" he retorted, coughing on the vanilla bar.

"Yeah, right," Lucy said sarcastically.

"Pfft, want proof?"

"Of course."

"Hey," Killua called out, turning around. "Do you really think I don't know that you're following us?"

So he had also noticed their stalker? Well that was to be expected – he _was_ a Zaoldyeck after all. But surely the stalker would side with her!

"Come on out," Killua continued. "No matter how long you follow me, you won't catch me. I don't know about this violent Mop Head though. She's pretty slow. Maybe you'll be able to catch her."

"And who was too slow to avoid getting my wonderful candy that should have been savored by anyone with normal taste buds shoved in their mouth?" Lucy sneered. "You shouldn't talk."

"I just chose not to avoid it so that you would make a fool of yourself," Killua said, shrugging. "But we really do have to get that guy's opinion…"

"Indeed," Lucy agreed. Even though he was probably only a one-pointer, at least she could get a badge out of this. Killua had been distracting her from her purpose here. She needed to get those badges.

"Well, here we come," Killua said calmly.

"Amori! Umori!" the voice of their follower exclaimed, revealing his location. So he had comrades, eh? More people to prove her point.

"Sorry we took so long," the skinny one with a beanie said.

"But you're done right?" the bulkier one said. "… Huh?"

The three Musketeers looked at Lucy and Killua, processing the situation. Earth to them: It was preposterous that anyone as weak as them could defeat her.

The other two brothers promptly kicked the small one wearing the baseball cap.

"You wuss!" the skinny one with the beanie shouted. "How come you haven't even taken out those two little kids yet?"

A. Little. Kid…? Is that what they just called her?

"Hey, I was just…" the baseball cap brother began warily. "Well, what I mean is, why rush it? The thrills in the chase, isn't it?"

The thrill was in the chase..? So he, a person who wasn't even strong enough to hide his presence properly, thought he could track her without getting noticed? What a naïve amateur.

"…Guess I should wrap this up," the baseball cap brother continued, walking over to Lucy.

Lucy watched him, wondering what he was up to. Well he probably wanted her badge… Like she'd really let him have it. On that note, where might he have hidden his own badge? If she didn't take it now, Killua might get it. And no way was she going to let that happen. Lucy looked the baseball cap brother over… He wore a green turtleneck and tan-colored pants. No bags to hide anything in. …But his pants did have pockets…

The baseball cap brother had now locked an arm around her neck and held her hands behind her back. Lucy had just stood there and let him do it. She had already gotten what she wanted… it had been easy to slip her hand into his pocket and grab his plate. Now that she had slipped it into one of her own pockets, all she would have to do was check what number it was…

"You've been stalking us right?" Lucy asked, getting right to the point. "Don't you think his chocolate obsession is simply nauseating?

"Huh?" the man holding her asked.

"He's clearly in shock that you could possibly think that my love for chocolate is nauseating when you're so obsessed with your vanilla."

"Oh really?" Lucy glared at him.

"You two don't recognize the situation, do you?" the bulkier brother said smugly.

"Situation?" Lucy asked angrily. How dare they underestimate her this much!

"Hand over your plate or your girlfriend dies," he said.

Wait…Girlfriend?

He tightened his grip on her.

…_Girlfriend_?

"So, gonna hand it over?"

He couldn't possibly be talking about her. No…no… He thought she was Killua's _girlfriend_? _Killua's_? Her face flushed a deep red… she turned away to hide it. Where would he have gotten a crazy idea like that?

Wait. Was she blushing? Why would she be blushing for that _chocolate-obsessed freak_? Oh, right. She had had a fever after falling into the water… that was only a few days ago. Maybe she really was sick.

"Girlfriend?" Killua shouted in disbelief equal to her own.

The baseball cap brother looked equally surprised. "She's not?"

"Hell no!" Killua objected a little too loudly. It was just barely visible, but for some reason his face was tinged with pink… why? "And why would I ever give you my plate to save _her_ of all people? That violent girl can save herself!"

That jerk! It was only natural that she could save herself – each Spider fended for his/herself – and it wasn't like she would ever need his help. But how rude!

"Oh, were you hoping for a damsel in distress?" Lucy said sardonically. Forget the idiot who was "restraining" her. In an instant, she had freed herself from his grip and elbowed him in the face. He yelled out in surprise. "I'm _so_ sorry," Lucy continued. "I seem to have shattered your hopes, hm?"

The three Musketeers seemed to be regrouping. They now formed a triangle in around Lucy and Killua. Not that she cared…

"So, Mop Head, I assume you were at least competent enough to grab the guy's plate?"

"At least competent enough? Pick pocketing a plate is a cinch for someone like me," Lucy answered confidently. She was a professional. Pick pocketing was a basic skill.

"What number was that guy, Mop Head?"

Lucy reached into her pocket and pulled out the plate. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the baseball cap brother frantically checking his pockets and wondering how she had gotten a hold of it.

198.

…Had she really gotten that lucky? Lucy reached into her bag to check the slip of paper that had her assigned target on it. Shalnark had warned her to always be 100% sure whenever it was possible.

"Aren't you going to tell me what number it is?" Killua asked again irritably.

"It's not your target, and I'm not going to hand it over," Lucy replied defensively. "At this point, I'm done with this hunting game."

"So it's your target?" Killua grinned. "What number?"

"Yeah, so? Why should I tell you?"

"Just tell me."

"…198," Lucy eventually answered. It wasn't like he could take the plate from her now anyways.

"Oh?" Killua said, now sounding interested. "Almost, but not quite. My target's 199." Killua turned to face the other two brothers. "That one of you two, by any chance?"

Lucy watched as realization began to dawn on the three brothers. The three of them had underestimated the two of them… And for that, they would fail the exam this year.

* * *

Hmm... This is one of those chapters where my sis just walked out of the room saying, "It's good."

I hope it really is good... lol.

Well anyways, a question for you all: What were your favorite scenes so far (in the entire story)? Which were the most memorable? What were your least favorite? Why?

...Okay, that's actually 4 questions. Oh well.

Reviews and con/crit are highly appreciated~


	19. Fourth Exam 3

...Urgh... Bad time management will be the end of me T-T

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Sofia10Soccer, Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox, Mimitalind, angelofdeath1119, SaturnXK, and 1412 karasu for reviews, as well as all of you who have favorited/alerted me!

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi=

* * *

**Confusion x First Kill x More Fish**

The battle with the three brothers was a cinch. Killua had simply pointed his claws at the neck of the beanie brother… Was he called Amori? Well either way, the bulky one (Umori?), who had had plate 199, handed his plate over.

"Hey, Killua, why did you tell me not to kill them?" Lucy asked. Killua had made sure to specifically instruct her to let the three brothers live they had procured the necessary plates from them. Somehow, it felt as if killing them would be like betraying Gon…

Killua glanced back at her for a second. Her pale green eyes stared back at him, wide with curiosity. He didn't know what kind of life she had lived until now, but he did know that she wasn't your average person. She had killed before. Many, many times… So many, that it was a completely normal thing to her. To her, killing a person was no different than squashing a bug… Not that he could talk. Killing didn't mean all that much to him either…

But it mattered to Gon. Gon was… different. Gon wasn't like his family, and he wasn't like Lucy. There was something about Gon that drew other people to him… Apparently, not even Killua was immune to it. "Gon wouldn't like it," he finally muttered.

"Is that why you sided with him in the Trick Tower?

Killua was silent. Why had he sided with Gon…? He had stopped walking – now staring at his feet. His fists were clenched at his sides. "…I don't know."

"He's too naïve. You should know that… Killing them would reap no consequences to us. It would only prevent them from coming after us again later."

"I do know!" Killua almost shouted. She was almost messing with his thoughts. She sounded just like Illumi did from time to time.

"Then why didn't you let me kill them?" Lucy demanded.

"Tch," Killua said. He didn't want to live the way his family lived. Killing the three of them would have been just what the rest of his family would do. A life wasn't something that could be bought over the counter… Despite the overly-optimistic way Gon thought, somehow, he liked the idea. Each and every life is priceless…

"You're like me aren't you? A killer… You don't count how many have died at your hands. There are far too many."

"What do you know?" Killua found himself yelling. What was making him so angry? Lucy's mentality was normal in his family. It was the same mentality his mother, father, brothers, and even grandparents had.

Lucy stared at him blankly. She hadn't lost her temper the way he had – so far he had never seen her truly lose it – but rather, she looked confused. She didn't say anything. Perhaps she was trying to understand what he had just said just as much as he was…

_

* * *

The arid, smoke-laden air smelled of ashes and smoldering human flesh. The ground had gone from a sandy brown to a deep crimson, now sodden with fresh blood. Fire crackled throughout the village, gradually demolishing everything it touched. People screamed as the searing flames consumed their still living bodies. _

_Desperately, they tried to flee. Luelle watched with the utmost amusement. They should have realized it was futile already – they had been trying to escape since the moment of the Phantom Troupe's arrival. But had any of them actually succeeded? _

_No, of course not._

_In fact, the only thing they had gained from their senseless actions was chaos… The entire village was in utter turmoil. It was every person for himself. Some people died not because they had been killed by one of the Phantom Troupe, but because they had been unknowingly trampled by someone…_

"_Hey, Lu, you gonna join us any time soon?" Phinks asked, smirking._

"_Hahaha! It is the first time we let her come with us after all… Maybe she's scared!" Nobunaga laughed._

"_You're both so mean!" Luelle pouted. "You guys aren't even leaving me any kills!"_

"_But Lu, you've never killed anyone before," Shalnark pointed out. "Since it's your first time on the field, it would be better to just observe…"_

"_Or maybe she just too pathetic to kill anyone," Feitan added._

"_I don't wanna sit around and watch you guys have all the fun!" Luelle complained. Shal was always overly obsessed with her safety, but she was perfectly capable of killing these people who were just scrambling around. She wished he wouldn't underestimate her so much… As for Feitan, he was always telling her she was weak and pathetic. She really was pretty strong!_

"_That's the spirit!" Ubou exclaimed. "Live for the fight! This one's for you, Lu!"_

_Battle-happy as usual. Luelle grinned at his enthusiasm as he let one person past him. A woman, perhaps in her twenties. Her hair was burnt at the ends, soot covered her face. Her expression changed from frantic to absolute terror as she realized she had entered the zone of five of the people who were participating in the massacre._

_Just as she turned to run away, Luelle was in front of her. The woman was cornered – Luelle in front, Phinks, Ubou, Nobunaga, and Shalnark behind._

"_You must be stupider than Phinks to think that you can escape," Luelle said._

"_Hey!" Phinks objected. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_It mean you a dork," Feitan said bluntly._

"_It would seem as if she was referring to your lack of brain capacity, Phinks," Shalnark explained._

"…_What?" Phinks asked. Apparently he had failed to comprehend what Shalnark had said, only proving Luelle's point._

_Luelle turned her attention back to the woman, who was anxiously looking for an opening. _

"_You still don't see that it's useless?" Luelle asked. "Accept your fate."_

_The woman's warm blood splashed onto the ground as Luelle retracted her metallic claws from the woman's chest. Her lifeless corpse lay fell to the ground, waiting to be devoured by the ravaging flames… _

**

* * *

Day 3**

Memories of the past swirled through her thoughts. Of course Gon and Kurapica and Leorio were all contradictions to what she had always known, but now Killua was becoming one too. It was like he was changing and leaving her behind. If he knew the right answer, why would he choose the wrong one?

The two of them hadn't talked much the entire day. The awkward silence that had descended upon them the day before had carried on, and neither of them had the nerve to break it. Whenever one of them actually said something, the answer was usually just a single word.

Lucy wondered why she was even bothering to stay with him at this point. It wasn't like they were talking, so there really wasn't much point in sticking together. Although she supposed there was safety in numbers, she didn't need numbers when everybody here was so weak. And the only ones who were strong – 44 and 301 – were too strong, whether or not Killua was with her.

So why was she sticking with him anyways? Well, for that matter, she could also ask why he hadn't decided to separate from her either. But whatever the reason was, she didn't really want to spend the next four days on the island alone. She wasn't sure why, but having Killua around made her kind of happy…

**

* * *

Day 4**

The flies buzzed around Lucy's face all day. Rather irritably, she swatted them all away. She could do without having a million gnats around.

She and Killua were talking a bit more (they were answering each other in more than one word now), but it still felt like that one time she had been travelling with Machi in a swamp. Machi could be awfully cold at times… but she hadn't been like that when she first joined the Phantom Troupe. Machi had been the first new member. When she had first joined, she had actually been pretty normal… except for her beauty. She had always been downright gorgeous.

The rest of the Spiders had already developed their Hatsus by the time they joined, but Machi had just barely learned nen. Kuroro had spent a lot of time helping her develop her nen, and eventually she was one of the strongest Spiders. She had always been really happy when Kuroro complimented her.

Lucy wondered when it was exactly that Machi had become as icy as she was nowadays. It wasn't as if she didn't like the stoic and apathetic Machi, but she was curious about what had caused the change. She had been gone for around a year with Nobunaga, Ubou, Phinks, Shalnark, and Feitan, and when she had returned, that was when Machi had changed.

Her thoughts continued to wander for the rest of the day…

**

* * *

Day 5**

Lucy wanted to take a bath in one of the lakes around the island. She was sticky and disgusting from a mix of sweat and humidity. Her hair was terribly messy. Overall, she just looked like a wreck.

But she couldn't find the nerve to tell Killua that she wanted to take a bath. She had no problem telling any of the Spiders that, but every single time she opened her mouth to announce that she was going to take a bath, she found herself closing it without saying a word. She definitely didn't trust Killua not to peek. And there were so many other ugly old men on the island! What if one of them saw her?

Well, she knew the answer to that. Shalnark would stalk them down and kill them as brutally as Feitan would.

But still! She didn't want anybody – and particularly Killua – to see her bathing. Absolutely not.

On a more serious note though, it would be troublesome if someone saw her hand. It wasn't as if she wore her gloves when she took a bath, and it would seem suspicious if she didn't take them off. Who didn't take off all of their garments when they went in the bath?

…There was one guy called "Kakashi" in that weird "Naruto" show that she had seen Phinks and Ubou watching once who went into the bath with his mask on, but that was a… what did they call it? Oh yeah. An "anime". What a weird name. Probably from Nobunaga's country.

But he was from an "anime", and "animes" weren't real! So what that "Kakashi" dude did didn't matter! Killua would find it odd if she bathed with her gloves on! But but but but… He shouldn't be sifting through her clothes to check if she was still wearing them or not in the first place! _And_ he shouldn't be peeking either, and he would have to do that to see the tattoo on her hand!

Lucy spent the whole rest of the day fussing over how she could take her bath.

**

* * *

Day 6**

Lucy still hadn't gotten to take her bath. Not only that, but her supply of vanilla candy bars was beginning to run low. How vexing. She would have to steal more whenever she got the chance.

Even though several days had passed since they had finished getting the six points that they needed to pass the exam, Lucy and Killua were still fairly quiet. What Killua had said before had yet to cease bothering her though.

"We're going to have to find some food," Killua said, breaking the never-ending silence that had over taken them.

Well, yeah, she knew that. She had known that back on the first day. But she had decided not to bother with it then. Lucy supposed she was paying the consequences for that now… Whatever.

"Hmm…" Killua said mischievously. "Why don't we go fishing?"

Lucy froze in her tracks. He was doing this because he knew she hated those awful, slimy, floppy, slippery things!

* * *

The stream Lucy had found earlier ran beside them, and a small fire crackled in front of them. Even though it might attract other examinees, neither of them was particularly worried about that.

Lucy grinned evilly as she waved the cooked fish in Killua's face. Ah, sweet revenge. How the tables turned once the fish was no longer slimy and floppy and slippery. He had been throwing the slimy, floppy, and slippery fish at her as she caught them (how dare he do that) but now it was her turn. A cooked fish was fine with her, just not an awful, slimy, floppy, slippery thing.

"That's gross!" Killua shouted. "Get that outta my face!"

"No way," Lucy smirked. "Aren't the eyeballs the best part of the fish?"

"Blech," Killua said. "Ew."

"Heh," Lucy snickered. "You sound like a girl."

"What was that?"

Lucy waved the fish in his face again.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!"

"Nah," Lucy said. My, this was fun.

Killua ran back towards the river. "I'll just catch more fish then!" he threatened.

"Oh yeah?" Lucy mocked, following him. Her shoes left footprints in the squishy mud by the riverbank. "Then I'll just have more eyeballs for you."

"Tch!" Killua reached into the water and caught a fish. It flopped around in his hand. "I know you love these."

Gah, he was serious? Lucy took a step back… and landed in the river.

...

...

...

Well, she supposed that that was one way of taking a bath.

But now she was just soaked. And Killua was laughing his head off at her.

Hmph.

She shivered as she climbed out of the river. It was pretty cold…

"Hahaha! Who would have thought the violent Mop Head was a klutz too?"

Lucy hid her face. "Well, _excuse_ me then." She was blushing again. Why, why, why? _WHY_? Why did she always feel herself turning red around him?

Killua continued to have his laughing fit for the next ten minutes or so. Lucy was flushing more and more every minute, and she was getting more and more confused. She didn't understand why she was getting like this…

"…Here," Killua said after he stopped dying of laughter.

Lucy glanced towards him, still trying to hide her face. He held out his sweatshirt to her.

"…You're cold right?"

Lucy nodded.

"Then be grateful that you get to borrow the Great Killua's shirt."

Lucy took it without saying a word. Her cheeks felt even hotter than before as she muttered that he better not look and hid behind a tree to change. When she came back, the silence had returned, full force.

**

* * *

Day 7**

The breaking of dawn meant the end of the exam. Meeting up with the others at the landing site of the blimp, Gon, Lucy, Killua, Leorio, Kurapica, Hisoka, Number 301, Number 191, Hanzo, and Pokkle had passed the fourth exam.

* * *

There are two new drawings of Lucy posted on my profile page~ Check them out! I think one of them is pretty cute x3

The other one is evil xD

But anyways, what do you all think of some minor Machi x Kuroro romance? My sis and I discussed it and came to the conclusion that Machi acts like Kuroro's icy cold ex-girlfriend. And how 'bout the fluff scene at the end? It didn't come out as good as I wanted it to, but... oh well xD And what about the flashback? My sis said it was kind of awkward lol.

Reviews and con/crit are highly appreciated~


	20. Fourth Exam 4: On the Blimp

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox, angelofdeath1119, SaturnXK, Itashi-sama, Mimitalind, KiGaMi, and everyone else who has reviewed/alerted/favorited my story lately~ I finally reached 100 reviews! *sparkly eyes*

Oh yes, and I must apologize for this chapter being short. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the blimp, so this is mostly a filler chapter. If you ask me, it's pretty... blah. But, all the same, I hope you like it!

My random rant of the day! Yesterday, I left my lil sis a review for her story. Apparently, I'm not supposed to read her story, but I was bored, so I decided to go through and read her authors notes. So I left her a review for her author's notes because I'm special like that~ And I complained to her that she was kicking me out of her room while I was writing her a review! (yes, yes, I understand that it's perfectly normal that my computer is in my sister's room).

So this morning, she replied to my review. She said:

Booo hooo hooo.  
I feel so sorry for you, getting kicked out of your sisters room.  
Sob sob sob.

...

...

Not.

Tee hee!

She's so mean D; ... XD

And... I'M SORRY LUCY! I'M A CHOCOHOLIC! ... =D

* * *

Dreams x Mission x Intuition

"So, Lucy… How come you're wearing Killua's shirt?"

That was the first question Leorio had asked when they had met up before getting on the blimp. That was the last question Lucy wanted to be asked. After slapping Leorio (quite hard, mind you), Lucy had sulkily made her way onto the blimp. The rest of the remaining examinees had congregated in a room nearby to discuss the possible contents of the final exam, but Lucy didn't really want to show her face to them… Especially since her other shirt was still wet.

Well, she could always put on that other shirt anyways…

But she kind of liked wearing Killua's shirt.

Wait. She did_ not_ just think that. She did _not_ like wearing Killua's shirt.

It wasn't that bad though…

…Why did her mind always stray to thoughts of him? Why did he always make her blush? Why did she have so much fun whenever she was with him? Somehow, she felt freer when they were together… Perhaps it was because he was the same age as her..? All of the Spiders were a good ten years older than her (except Shizuku) after all…

Or was there another reason?

She fished through her memories for an explanation, but her eyelids were drooping. Yawning, she let sleep overtake her.

_Paku, Coltopi, and Bon-chan were already out on a mission, even though it was still so early in the morning. She was what? …Four years old? And what was their target this time? Oh right… another old book that Kuro-chan wanted. She wondered why he liked reading so much._

_Kuroro never purchased any of the particularly rare books he owned. Even if a book was common, he'd just go out and steal it from a bookstore. He wasn't much of the type to go up and pay at the register. Why trouble himself with such trifles, when it was far easier to just walk in, pick up the book, and disappear so fast he would not even appear on their security cameras? _

_On the other hand, if it was rare, it never even crossed Kuro-chan's mind to buy it. And stealing it discreetly? No, leaving a lasting impression was the half the whole point of stealing it. The other half was, of course, to obtain the book. So he'd gather some of the Spiders together, or perhaps all, depending on just how much of an unforgettable scene he wished to make. Together, they would slaughter whoever got in their way and steal book._

"_Kuro-chan!" Luelle exclaimed excitedly. "I want go on mission too."_

"_Luelle," Kuroro replied calmly. "You shouldn't speak in erroneous grammar when you know proper grammar."_

"_Eh?" she asked. "I not talking with bad grammar! I talking Fei-talk!"_

_Phinks and Nobunaga looked over from the other side of the room at this point. Both of them were laughing at her._

"_Luelle…" Shalnark said, sighing. "Feitan's grammar could use some work."_

"_You talking about me?" Feitan demanded. He had just come to join them._

"_Fei-kun!" Luelle said happily, running over to him and tugging on his clothes, hoping that Kuroro would acknowledge her prowess and allow her to go with them on the mission. "Now I strong like Fei-kun too!"_

_Feitan stood there for a second, speechless. He seemed to be processing what she had said in a state of disbelief. Surely it must have been because he was in awe of the discovery that she was like him… she was strong!_

"…_I kill you," he muttered venomously. But he told her that all the time, so she disregarded it._

"_Luelle, you still have quite a ways to improve," Kuroro told her. "You are not yet ready to face people in a real battle."_

"_Hmph," Luelle said, frustrated. "At least gimme a chance with the coin flip!"_

"_No, you aren't ready," Shalnark told her once more._

"_I'm stronger than you think!"_

"_Oh yeah, Lu?" Ubou interjected. "Then try me on!"_

"_Fine, I will!"_

The memory faded… her mind drifting once more…

"_Luelle?" Pakunoda asked. "Do you want to come out with me to get some breakfast?"_

"_Oh, sure," Luelle replied. She was about nine years old at the time. "Is Machi coming?"_

"_I don't know. Machi, are you coming?"_

_As usual, Machi seemed calm, cold, collective. "That's fine, I suppose," she said. _

_The three girls walked towards the plaza in the center of town. It was odd how they were criminals, each with quite a substantial bounty, and yet, people walked past them, not at all afraid. Ignorance. It really was bliss for them._

_A group of children around Luelle's age played a game on the side of the street. Two boys and a girl tossed a ball back and forth to one another, but a few seconds later, the two boys were chasing the girl down the street. The boys laughed mischievously, enjoying themselves as they teased the girl. The girl stuck her tongue out at them and said they'd never be real men if they couldn't even catch a girl. The boys, aggravated by her taunting, ran after her once more._

"_What are you staring at?" Pakunoda asked Luelle. Machi also turned to watch her reaction._

"_Umm…Nothing really," Luelle replied awkwardly. Those children were so immature, but still, she wondered what it was like to be able to play with other kids… Sure, she got to play with Ubou and Phinks and Naganaga-kun and Shal all the time, but that was different. They were adults._

"_You look distant," Machi said bluntly. "Almost as if you're longing for something."_

"_I'm not!" Luelle objected. She didn't want to play with those bratty kids over there – that would mean she was normal. And the Spiders weren't normal…She loved the Spiders. But it would be nice if there was someone her age around._

"_Is that so?" Pakunoda asked. "Machi's intuition is usually right…"_

"Number 100! Please report to the reception room!" a voice said over the intercom, jolting her awake.

"Hohoho! Were you sleeping?" the jolly old man in front of her asked.

Lucy stared drowsily at the man. This was definitely not a life or death issue, so there was no reason to wake her up. Let a girl get her beauty sleep at least…

"It does appear you were!" Netero laughed. "I must apologize for disturbing your sleep."

"Mmm…It's rude to wake someone up so abruptly," Lucy replied curtly, rubbing her eyes. "So wha'dyouwantmefor?" she asked, her voice slurred.

"Hohoho! You would have thought I woke you up while you were hibernating! A prospect to be a young Hunter must always keep his or her guard up!"

"…Of course my guard is up…" Lucy murmured. "I'm not stupid…"

"So, why do you want to be a Hunter?" Netero asked.

"Huh?... Oh. To prove to a certain idiot that he's certainly an idiot…"

"I see, I see," the old man said, nodding. "Who interests you most of the remaining examinees?"

That question was like an electric shock to wake her brain up. Who interested her? Well _not _Killua! She couldn't care less about him! He was an idiot Gray Hair!

"My, my," the old man said as he played with his beard. "What a passionate response. I should have expected as much from the one who put him in such a situation back during the second exam though..."

It took her a few seconds to realize that she'd said what she'd just been thinking out loud. She flushed.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"...No."

"Whom would you least like to fight right now?"

"…Forty-four and Three hundred-one."

"Alright, you may leave."

A few days later, they arrived at the destination of the final exam…

* * *

Okay, anyways, I'll try to upload another chapter soon since this weekend I have Monday off too =D

And for those of you who like my story enough to read it but not to review: I'm only 5'3"! (around 160cm!) Don't be afraid of me D;

And if you don't wanna leave your name, you could always review anonymously!~ x3

But if you want to tell me how bad/terrible/horrible/awful my story is, at least give me a detailed explanation as to why D;

I think you get the idea~ Review please xD


	21. Final Exam 1

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi (Lucy belongs to me though~). But when I rule the world, it'll be mine. Yes, I am currently planning my world domination. x3

Special thanks to Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, 1412 karasu, AcPa xox, KiGaMi, Mimitalind, and featherfun for reviews~

A huge thanks to KiGaMi and angelofdeath1119 for drawing Lucy for me~ You two are awesome~ xD

And another thanks for Cookie Krisp (for proof-reading) and all of you who have favorited/alerted this story xD

Lalalalala~ I keep trying to persuade my sister to write the HxH story she had in mind awhile ago...

Me: I wanna read your HxH story~~

My sis: Noooooo I'm working on my One Piece fic D;

Me: C'mon! I wanna hear about Leaf~

My sis: ...her name is Fern.

Me: ...=D

**

* * *

Tournament x Bizarre x Tattoo**

The blimp had arrived at a hotel run by the Hunter Committee. The room in which Lucy now found herself was huge and empty; it was probably the party hall of the hotel. Some poor souls had probably spent hours waxing the shiny turquoise floor tiles… she could almost see her reflection in them. And it wasn't just the floor – the gray-maroon walls also had their own sheen, although it was duller than that of the floor. Various rectangular poles engraved with various designs protruded from the wall.

In the middle of that room, stood the examinees, as well as the examiners, Netero, the egg-headed man, several black-suited men, and a large white bulletin board. Netero had begun to explain that the last exam would be a one-on-one tournament, so she assumed the white bulletin board was for the match-ups. But from what she could tell, it really wasn't necessary to cover it. Over-dramatic much? Well, whatever.

The matches were as followed:

294 (Hanzo) vs. 405 (Gon)

(The winner of the first round) vs. 100 (Lucy)

(The winner of Lucy's match) vs. 53 (Pokkle)

(The winner of Pokkle's match) vs. 99 (Killua)

(The winner of Killua's match) vs. 301 (?)

And then on the other block of the chart…

404 (Kurapica) vs. 44 (Hisoka)

(The winner of Kurapica and Hisoka's match) vs. 191 (Who Lucy eventually found out was named Bodoro)

(The winner of Bodoro's match) vs. 403 (Leorio)

Oh. Excuse her. It was not a traditional tournament where the winner proceeded onto the next round. It was a bizarre tournament where the loser was the one who proceeded. So change every "The winner of…" to "The loser of…"

"There are just a few simple rules," Netero continued. "You may use any weapons you like. You win when your opponent admits defeat. However…"

Lucy hated the word "however". It almost never meant anything good.

"…If you kill your opponent, you will be disqualified!"

Nope, nothing good. What an annoying, unreasonable rule.

"At that point, the exam ends, you fail, and everyone else passes. Now… Let the final phase begin!"

"First match…" one of the black-suited man said. "Hanzo vs. Gon! Start!"

* * *

The first thing Hanzo did was clarify the rules. Apparently, if your opponent did not – or could not – admit defeat, then there was no win. She definitely should have spent more time with Feitan when he was torturing people. Well, at least she had some knowledge of the art.

Hanzo was stronger than Gon. You didn't have to be a genius to notice. It was obvious, so Lucy assumed the outcome of the match would also be obvious. She had miscalculated exactly how stubborn Gon was. He was just like Ubou… definitely a reinforcement type. No doubt about it. Neither of them would ever give up.

Hanzo tried method after method to force Gon to give up. He tried to show just how much stronger he was than Gon. Did Gon give up then? No. He didn't give up as Hanzo continued to batter him either. Three hours past that way…

Lucy wasn't sure what she was feeling, nor did she know what she should be feeling. It was odd. It was like she was detached from reality because what was happening really wasn't registering in her mind, even though it was happening right in front of eyes. A strange feeling began to surface in her murky emotions… she couldn't place it. She'd never felt it before. But she hoped Gon would be alright…

It was okay though because he wouldn't die, right? Hanzo wouldn't kill Gon, since killing Gon meant failing the exam.

But what would she do if Hanzo did permanent damage to Gon?

…

She didn't know.

* * *

Hanzo gave up when Gon refused to do so even after he broke Gon's arm. Leorio had lost his cool several times during Gon's match, and even Kurapica had come quite close to losing control of himself. Lucy watched them and wondered if that was what she should be feeling.

Her family, the Phantom Troupe, had never, and would never, be in such a situation. They were the torturers, not the ones who were tortured.

They were strong; Gon was weak.

The next match was between Kurapica and Hisoka. She had wanted to use the match to gauge Hisoka's fighting ability (if he really was the new Number 4, then he should be of a certain level…), but it was over too quickly. Kurapica had charged at Hisoka, Hisoka had dogdged, broken one of Kurapica's swords, and whispered something to him. Kurapica's eyes flared crimson at whatever words Hisoka had spoken… She wondered what Hisoka had said.

And then Hisoka gave up.

* * *

The next match was Lucy's – Lucy vs. Hanzo.

Killua watched as Lucy and Hanzo casually walked onto the floor. Neither of them seemed particularly excited for the match, and neither of them seemed particularly scared of their opponent. Killua still didn't know how strong Lucy was (or wasn't)… the only time he had actually seen her fight was in the Trick Tower.

…Not even that. Yes, he had seen the man collapse. No, he had not seen what she had done. The man's back had been facing to them, and since she was far shorter than him, there was no way Killua could have seen what had happened.

"Man, why do my first two opponents have to be two kids?" Hanzo complained loudly, picking his ear and looking dreadfully bored.

Lucy sighed. "I'm not the same as Gon, you know," she said calmly. "I do believe I warned you not to underestimate me once before?"

"Pfft," Hanzo said. "Just because you're stronger than Gon, it doesn't put you on my level."

The atmosphere in the room was changing… Killua felt a cold sweat forming on his forehead.

"Oh, really?" she asked. Her voice remained calm… and yet, it was menacing.

Hanzo's cocky smile remained plastered upon his face, but now he seemed more wary. It wasn't just him who felt it. Everybody in the room had reacted. The examiners suddenly looked interested; Hisoka tapped his Ace of Spades against his lips in anticipation; the rest of the examinees had felt that something was off. The tension was unnatural – the bloodlust overpowering. So it was her who had been emitting the pressure in the Trick Tower. What was that pressure anyways…?

"…Heh," Hanzo said nervously. "Well, at least this'll be fun."

Out of nowhere, three blades materialized on the back of each of her gloves. Killua's eyes widened in awe as he wondered how she had accomplished such a feat. One long, sharp, metal blade did not appear out of thin air, let alone six.

Lucy charged towards her opponent. The pressure lessened but did not disappear. It was more as if its focus was redirected… probably at Hanzo.

Lucy had admitted to him that she was a killer, like him. He wondered if the pressure he had felt from her had anything to do with that.

She aimed her claws at his heart; he jumped above her. Her eyes were those of a demon who killed for fun…

What was her past? All he knew about her was that she had killed many people before… who was she really?

By the time Hanzo had landed on the ground, Lucy had whirled around to attack him once more. Hanzo ducked, but she swiped at him with her other set of claws.

Hanzo winced as his blood splattered onto the floor from the new wound in his chest. It didn't look deep, but the three slashes side by side oozed enough blood to drench his clothes within seconds.

"Hmph," Hanzo said, staggering back onto his feet. "You're better than I thought you'd be."

"Why, of course I am," Lucy said softly. "Did you think I was weak? Did you expect me to go down so easily? If you did, you were sadly mistaken…"

"Haha," Hanzo laughed, then grimaced in pain from the wound (which began to leak even more blood). "I was just testing you now, you know? If you think that's all there is to me, then _you_'re the one who is sadly mistaken."

* * *

This time, it was Hanzo who made the first move. His feet just barely touched the ground as he swiftly dashed towards her, like a leopard towards its prey. Had she not trained with Feitan, she never would have seen him. To the average person, he was not even a shadow – he was a sudden, brief gust of wind rushing past them. To the person with the well-trained eye, he was a mere blur.

Lucy closed her eyes, choosing to sense him, rather than see him. Although there was no way he could possibly be faster than her, it was better to be safe than sorry. As she stood there, feeling the movement of his presence across the battlefield, she remembered all of her training with Feitan. They were both fast… Hanzo had mentioned that he was a ninja…? Then ninjas probably specialized in speed. Even so, Hanzo's speed was incomparable to Feitan's. She could handle this.

He was coming closer…closer…closer.

He was the insect, flying into the spider's web…

He turned, veering sharply to the right.

"I'm not going to fall for that," Hanzo announced confidently.

"Alright then," Lucy replied cooly. So maybe he wouldn't just fall right into her trap. He might actually be a decent opponent. She hadn't fought anyone for real for awhile. Focusing her nen in her feet, she darted towards him.

Hanzo immediately responded to her action. With his ninja reflexes, he jumped into the air, spiral down to land a kick on her head… but it was nothing in comparison to Machi's.

Swinging her arm upward with the intent of blocking his kick with her claws, Lucy stayed poised for the impact. But Hanzo was too fast. Rather than feeling the heavy impact of a kicking leg, the impact she felt was far more gentle.

Hanzo had landed on her claws, forcing her arm downward. She hadn't expected him to read her movements. Cursing under her breath, she brought her other arm towards him.

In a smooth motion of someone who knows his opponent's next move, Hanzo grabbed her arm and threw her backwards. The air tore past her face, ripping through her hair. She knew the collision was coming; she was blind for all that was rushing past her. She couldn't focus enough to concentrate her nen in her back to soften the impact. How was this happening? Curses. Surely, she wouldn't lose to him. There was no way that he was stronger than her…

Lucy's back hit the wall full force. For a split second, the only thing in her mind was the pain… The iron taste of blood filled her mouth… Her spine felt as if it had splintered into a million pieces, her shoulder blades as if someone had stabbed a white hot knife between them. Someone might as well have taken a hammer to the rest of her bones. Several people in the audience gasped in shock.

"You're the one who underestimated me," Hanzo smirked. "I'm what? Six years older than you…?"

Lucy's body collapsed to the floor. Every inch of her throbbed excruciatingly… The force of the impact had knocked the breath from her lungs… Unable to breathe, she coughed, desperately trying to get her breath back. The cerulean floor was further stained with splotches of crimson blood…

"Six years is a long time… you are still but a child. During those six years I have upon you, I trained tirelessly each day, until I coughed blood, just as you are doing now. Day, after day, after day…"

Had Lucy been able to speak, she would have told him that she couldn't care less how long and how hard he had trained. Instead, she was still gagging on her own blood.

"And yet, you appear to have some kind of mysterious power…" Hanzo continued. "What are those peculiar claws of yours? I don't recall them being there before… And that pressure you exerted? Girl, what strange powers do you have?"

"Why…" Lucy snarled, "Would I ever tell you…?"

Hanzo's foot smashed into her rib cage. She rolled onto her back, choking. Again, she found herself unable to fill her lungs with air… At least two of her ribs had been fractured…

"You aren't in a position to object. So, will you tell me? Or will you give up?"

She would never give up… she was stronger than him. None of the other Spiders would lose to him… He couldn't use nen… He was weak… Why? Why hadn't this battle already ended with her as the victor?

"I'll ask again," Hanzo said. "Will you explain that strange power? Or will you give up?"

Lucy tried to drag herself to her feet, but her body was limp… Her arms trembled as she put pressure on them, the throbbing intensified…

"…I won't…" Lucy hissed, "…Do either…" This pain was nothing in comparison to what the rest of the Spiders had suffered throughout their battles. She wouldn't give up here…

"…Then I suppose I don't have a choice," Hanzo said.

With a quick karate chop to the back of her neck, he had pinned her down just as he had done Gon, wrenching her arm behind her back. His foot on her back put further pressure on her cracked ribs… She felt at least one of them breaking further… She cringed, grinding her teeth together to prevent herself from screaming.

"Well, since you won't tell me about that strange power, I'll start by examining these…" Hanzo said, reaching his fingers under one of her gloves.

Lucy's eyes widened. It was her left glove… the one with her tattoo beneath it…

* * *

You all should check out my profile for more drawings of Lucy and KiGami and angelofdeath1119's drawings~ xD

This chapter took longer to write than usual... I'm really bad at writing battle scenes D;

...Lol at how kept running to my Harry Potter books every five minutes in order to write this...^^;... *has certain battle scenes bookmarked in them*

And then, literary devices! I think there is some parallelism in this chapter for future events~ xP

I feel like I should be making my poor English teachers proud!~ (...Maybe.)

I'd like to hear what all of you thought at my attempt at writing a battle scene~ xD

Review please x3


	22. Final Exam 2

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. When I finally get my yellow pineapple blob though, it will belong to me. As will Killua. And the rest of the world. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *mad scientist laugh*

...

Okay, that's enough. Now that I've scared you all...

Special thanks to all those who've reviewed~ (Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, KiGaMi, featherfun, AcPa xox, Mimitalind, 1412 karasu, SaturnXK, Fearless59, and Itashi-sama~

I would also like to thank my sister (Cookie Krisp) for reading this over, and everybody who has favorited/alerted me~ x3

* * *

~Recap~

_With a quick karate chop to the back of her neck, he had pinned her down just as he had done Gon, wrenching her arm behind her back. His foot on her back put further pressure on her cracked ribs… She felt at least one of them breaking further… She cringed, grinding her teeth together to prevent herself from screaming._

"_Well, since you won't tell me about that strange power, I'll start by examining these…" Hanzo said, reaching his fingers under one of her gloves._

_Lucy's eyes widened. It was her left glove… the one with her tattoo beneath it…_

~End of Recap~

* * *

Curses, _curses_, _**curses**__!_ How did she let this happen? Curses. Why hadn't she already destroyed him? Had she somehow miscalculated? Did she take him too lightly?

_Impossibility._

She struggled, desperately trying to force herself out of his grip… she wasn't strong enough.

_Weakness._

At this rate, Hanzo would see the tattoo. And it wouldn't be just him… Gon, Killua, Kurapica, Leorio… the rest of the examinees. Before she had gotten to know them, she wouldn't have cared. But what would Gon do if he found out? What would Killua do? Kurapica? Leorio?...

_Fear._

She should have been stronger than him! She knew nen… his only power was physical strength! She was a Spider… he was nothing but a puny little ninja! And yet, why? Why was she losing?

_Impossibility._

No! She wouldn't lose! Never! If she lost in a real battle, she could pull the rest of the Spiders down… Even though Kuroro said that each of the Spiders was only a limb and that the death of one should not kill the entire Spider, it wasn't as if the loss of a limb had no affect on the Spider at all…

But it wasn't just the loss of the limb… Was she the broken limb..? The one that the Spider had to drag with it because it didn't have a choice..? The one that slowed the Spider down..? The one that was easily seen as the weak leg of the Spider..?

_Weakness._

It wasn't like that! She wasn't weak! If she was weak… why would they allow her to stay with them? The Spider didn't allow for weaknesses! She was just as much part of the Phantom Troupe as any of the rest of them… But then… why? Why was she always the one who was left behind when everyone else went on missions?

_Fear._

Her eyes stung… Confusion swirled through her mind…

_Impossibility. _

_Weakness._

_Fear._

Warm tears slowly began to trickle down her face… At least no one could see them with the way Hanzo was holding her head to the floor… She wasn't even strong enough to escape from him…

She clasped her had shut in a meager attempt to prevent Hanzo from removing her glove… Everyone she met during the Hunter Exam would leave her once they saw that… Everything would be over …

_Impossibility. Weakness. Fear._

Her heart beat furiously in her chest… Was this fear? _Thump... thump… thump…_ She wondered if anyone besides her could hear it…

"Since you're trying to stop me, I take it that these are important?" Hanzo smirked, indicating her gloves.

She glared at him abhorrently. The fury she felt towards him now was ineffable… she wanted to humiliate him, torture him, kill him for the position he had put her in… If the rest of the Phantom Troupe were here, they could do all of that and more… But she didn't want their help.

If she had to depend on them for everything, she really was as weak and pathetic as Phinks had said….

"You're in no position to stop me though," Hanzo continued. "So let's get rid of some of your resistance, eh?"

Curses…

_In all his equanimity, Kuroro stood in front of her. His leather black coat swayed in the chilly breeze that wafted through the walls of the run-down building they were staying in. They were the only ones there, save for Shalnark. Shalnark, being Shalnark, hadn't really wanted her tenketsu opened. As usual, he wanted to hold her back. _

_Shalnark had said that it was safer for her to not know nen because then any Black List Hunters that might be after them would have a more difficult time identifying her as some connected to the Phantom Troupe. In the worst case scenario, they could even pretend she was a hostage._

_But she didn't want to be protected like that. She wanted to stand on her own two feet._

_Thankfully, Kuroro had pointed out that she wouldn't be able to defend herself at all without it. She would last a lot longer in their captivity if she could use nen than if she couldn't. And since it was Kuroro, Shalnark couldn't really object. And so, here she was, learning nen._

"_Luelle," Kuroro said calmly. "Relax. Imagine the tranquility of a lake."_

_She pictured a still lake without even a single ripple across its surface. She could feel Kuroro's hand near her shoulder blades, and yet, he wasn't touching them. It was as if there was some sort of invisible force of which his hands were engulfed in…_

"_Alright. I will begin now."_

_The pressure seemed to ooze its way into her… And then, without warning, something was gushing out of her body, like smoke from a fire. Her aura was transparent silver, as it swirled, twisted, and then seemed to simply evaporate into the air. Shalnark had warned her what would happen if she didn't regain control of it quickly… If she wasn't careful, she could even die from it._

"_Luelle," Kuroro's voice ordered. "You are a Spider. Weave your aura in a web around you."_

_A spider… In her mind, Lucy could see the intricate web of the Spider being woven around her body… The flow of her aura began to slow…_

"_Good. Your web is part of you… You are the center of the web, its core."_

_Yes, and each individual thread was important. Not a single thread could be lost without affecting the rest of the web… Her aura stabilized._

_Opening her eyes, she saw Kuroro looking at her approvingly, and Shalnark sighing with relief. Although a faint smile was evident on Kuroro's face, no other emotions could be made out. Before Machi and Pakunoda returned, Kuroro said one more thing to her:_

"_Nen is not a substitute for physical strength. Strength supplements nen, and nen supplements strength. Be sure to always remember that, Luelle."_

Another sharp blow – this time to the side of her head. She had blocked it partially with her nen, but it wasn't enough. Her brain almost seemed to rattle… Blood rushed through her head, making it pulsate with each of her heartbeats… Each pulse was another wave of pain… Of what there should have been only one, she saw two…

* * *

Killua watched the battle in horror. He had found himself gritting his teeth during Gon's battle, unsure of what to do. Unlike Kurapica and Leorio, he had been able to keep his mind because he knew that Gon wouldn't be killed…But that didn't mean that he hadn't felt just as they had.

And now he was seeing the same scene again. With Lucy.

Why wouldn't they just give up? It was obvious who was stronger… Regardless of that, neither of them would throw in the towel and admit defeat.

_Never fight a superior opponent._

That was one of the first lessons his father and brother had drilled into his mind when he was younger… Why had both Gon and Lucy continued to fight, in spite of the inevitability of their loss?

Lucy's hair had splayed all over the floor, and her clothes were already in tatters. Hanzo's wound was minor in comparison to hers. In order to have injured her so badly, he must have thrown her against the wall incredibly hard… Although he couldn't tell exactly how serious her wounds were, he could tell she had at least a few broken bones already… Hanzo obviously didn't want another battle as slow as Gon's. In less than ten minutes, he had subdued Lucy to this point…

Killua couldn't see Lucy's face, but he could picture the frustration on it. She was prideful, very prideful… Perhaps that was why she wouldn't admit her loss. That moron. It would have been better to give up before it had gotten this bad! Her next opponent would be that weak archer boy, Pokkle, Number 53. She should have given up at the beginning! Why did she have to be such a moron?

And Gon too! Gon refused to give up, even after his arm was broken… Damn it.

"I…" Lucy's voice said, almost inaudibly. It may have been her voice, but the sound of it was hollow and empty in comparison… "…I give up," she muttered.

Killua's eyes widened. All Hanzo was doing was taking off her glove… Why would Lucy give up now? Yes, of course it was relieving, but it didn't make any sense. She had been retorting defiantly to what he said until now… What had changed?

But Hanzo had a point. Killua also wanted to know about that mysterious ability Lucy had that seemed to mimic his brother's so much… Did her gloves have something to do with that ability? Was the reason she had given up was because she didn't want him to remove her gloves? What could she be hiding under them anyways?

At least she wouldn't get hurt any further…

* * *

Despite the severity of her injuries, it took Lucy but a moment to win her match against Pokkle. But she didn't have to fight him… if she had lost her match against Pokkle, Killua would have forfeited against her. It wouldn't be any fun fighting someone as battered as she was. And it wouldn't be any more fun to fight her than it would be to fight Gon… he didn't think he could attack either of them for real.

There was to be a two hour break before the next match at this point. Gon's match with Hanzo had been particularly long, and they had all been standing around for several hours already. The weird old man, Netero, had decided to give them a break. Gon had been taken to the infirmary, but Lucy refused to go. She vehemently stated that she would treat herself, demanded to know where the showers were, and haughtily trudged out of the room. It sure didn't take long for her to recover her former vigor… That was good.

Buying himself a hot chocolate from the hotel lounge, Killua sat there, sipping it, for the next half hour or so. Kurapica and Leorio had decided to keep to themselves as well, so Killua was just left to ponder the events of the exam. If it had been before the exam, he wouldn't have cared what happened to Gon and Lucy. Of course, at that point, he didn't know them. Apparently, knowing them made a big difference…

_The whip lashing at his bare skin. Over, and over, and over._

_The electricity, so strong that his innards felt as if they were sizzling as the current coursed through his veins. Over, and over, and over._

_Endless training sessions, until he couldn't stand no matter how hard he tried, until he even feel his body any more, until he vomited his own blood. Over, and over, and over…_

_For what? For what was this torture conducted? It was for this very moment. _

_His target, a man much larger than he, now lay on the floor, nothing but a corpse. He had completed his job alone… He didn't need any help to complete it. Besides, a companion was a hindrance. A companion would only get in his way, slow down him down. A companion was someone who, if necessary, would die at his very hand in the future… _

"Hey, how long are you gonna sit there and day dream, you idiot Gray Hair?" Lucy said cockily, interrupting his thoughts. Killua wondered if she was only pretending to be alright with her loss. Her hair was still damp from the shower, a towel around her shoulders. The blood and grime had been washed from her face, and she wore a new set of clothes. He could tell that it was difficult for her to move from the stiff way she was standing… She was probably wearing a lot of bandages under her clothes…

But talking to Lucy was a lot better than reminiscing about… _those_ times. "Oh, it appears I get the honors of greeting the crippled Mop Head who's high on painkillers."

"Hmph," Lucy said icily. "Like I really need the help of painkillers."

She was lying… There was no way she would be able to move around without a heavy dosage of them with all her injuries… She wasn't like him, who had been tortured throughout his entire life to increase pain endurance. Killua stirred his now-empty cup of hot chocolate.

"So," Killua began. He wondered how much of the way she was acting now was fake… She wasn't the type to get over such a humiliating loss so easily. And the best way to test that was taking a small step into dangerous territory. "What happened with Hanzo?"

An immediate reaction: Her pale green eyes darted away from him for a split second, although they quickly refocused…

"…I just decided it would be easier to take out Pokkle, is all," she said. But she was laughing nervously. And, if she had really thought that, then she would have given up much sooner in the match.

"…Is that so?" Killua asked, but, even so, chose not to press the issue any further for the moment… If the situation proved to be of any significance, he could ask her about it later.

* * *

Apparently, Killua did not want to fight a boring match against a weakling like Pokkle, so he gave up. Lucy watched him as he waited for his next opponent to take the field… Number 301.

She should have warned him not to fight 301.

She knew he wasn't to be messed with. She knew that.

If she had told him…

Then she could have prevented all of that from happening.

* * *

So, when she finished reading this chapter, my sister told me that my story wasn't interesting enough. My conclusion from that is that my story is probably missing something, but I happen to have no idea what that something might be. I already asked Snowy-Sonya for her thoughts on that (and she gave me some pretty interesting ideas xD), so now I'm going to bug the rest of you.

Is there anything you don't like in this story? Is there anything you think is missing?

Review please =D


	23. Final Exam 3

Lalala~ So, I felt like adding some stuff to the scene. Canary now has a little brother called Falcon. Oh yes, I felt very creative coming up with that name =D

Alright then! Let's see. Illumi now has an addition to his nen ability... he can manipulate people to speak only when he wants them to, and when they do, speak only the truth. Or something like that. Lol. (It never really did make sense to me why Killua decided to tell Illumi the truth in the manga/anime...)

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. Lucy belongs to me.

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp (who has informed me that she doesn't like this arc in the books/anime, and she doesn't like it now either T-T), AcPa xox, Itashi-sama, Snowy-Sonya, ymitsuki, Sofia10Soccer, Mimitalind, featherfun, KiGaMi, SaturnXK, Aull Chan Kuruta for reviewing~

* * *

**Illumi x Falcon x Helpless**

"Been awhile, Kil," Number 301 said. That was when things started to go wrong.

A confused expression contorted Killua's face. Almost as if of recognition.

Number 301 plucked the first nen pin from his head.

Then a second.

And then a third.

Gradually, his face reshaped itself. The manner in which it did so, of course, was quite grotesque (she had to wonder if he really had a skull in his head with the deformed shapes his head took).

The next expression Lucy could see on Killua's face was alarm. A cold sweat had already formed on his face.

"Illumi…" Killua said. So Killua did recognize this man… "Illumi", Killua called him.

"…Is that… Killua's brother?" Leorio asked.

Killua's brother? Ah, that made sense. And yeah, she obviously would have figured that out too if she hadn't been so busy analyzing his facial expressions.

"I'm here to get a license for a job that's coming up," Illumi continued.

"I don't really want to be a hunter…" Killua said warily. He was scared of Illumi… "I was just curious about the tests.

"Ah, is that so?" Illumi asked. "That's good… because now I can tell you that you would not make a good hunter."

The pressure of Illumi's nen created a feeling of suffocation within the room. Just as they had all felt her own ren, they all felt Illumi's. Everybody was on guard. Everybody sensed that Illumi was danger.

"There's no fire in you, just darkness," Illumi's soft, chilly voice said. "It sustains you, drains you of any desire. Your only joy is in causing death, and even that is fleeting. That is how Dad and I molded you. Now that your curiosity is satisfied, why go on?"

Shalnark was her brother, but he would never say something like that to her. Illumi was threatening Killua… she could feel it in the intensity of the aura he emitted. None of the Spiders would do that to her. Never. Not even Phinks or Feitan. Sure, Phinks said he didn't believe she would pass the Hunter Exam. Sure, Feitan said she was weak and pathetic. But they weren't actually threatening her.

* * *

Killua bit his lip nervously. He knew what was coming. This wasn't the first time this had happened. But this time, he knew what would happen. He could prevent it.

_A few years ago was when Canary came to their estate. A few years ago was when he had asked Canary and her little brother, Falcon, to be his friends. A few years ago was when Falcon died._

_Why did Falcon die, you ask?_

_Well, there were many reasons people died on the Zaoldyeck estate:_

_Attempt to break in and losing against the bodyguards or Mike._

_Inability to endure the brutality of the harsh training of becoming a bodyguard._

_Dying to protect a member of the Zaoldyeck family, and, thus, fulfilling one's job._

_Occasionally being Milluki's guinea pig for his experiments._

_As a bodyguard, disloyalty or betrayal to the Zaoldyeck family. _

_Those were just the main reasons. But in this case, only the fifth one applied. "As a bodyguard, disloyalty or betrayal to the Zaoldyeck family."_

_That was the crime Falcon was said to have committed._

_But in reality… he hadn't done anything wrong._

_It hadn't been Falcon's fault. It had been Killua's. Killua had been the one to ask Falcon to be his friend, not the other way around. Falcon hadn't "corrupted" Killua's mind in an attempt to sabotage the family, as Killua's mother said Falcon had. Falcon had only done what Killua had asked._

_And Falcon had been too young to understand that being "friends" with one of his masters was taboo, and not in Killua's best interest. Canary had known better, but no matter what kind of warnings she had given Falcon, he hadn't understood._

_Why?_

_Killua had asked Falcon not to call him "young master". Not to call him "Zaoldyeck-sama." Not to call him, "Killua-sama". _

_Just "Killua"._

_That was what Killua had wanted._

_But did you know? Once you call another person by their name, you feel closer to him. _

_And that was what happened to Killua and Falcon. Killua happily shared his skateboard with Falcon, and Falcon shared his supply of chocolates. Killua could never figure out where Falcon got all of his chocolate, and Falcon only added to the mystery by grinning goofily whenever Killua asked._

_Falcon told Killua lots of stories about the world outside the Zaoldyeck house._

_Falcon told Killua what it was like to be a "normal" kid._

_Falcon told Killua about his and Canary's home village before it had become the site of a massacre._

_And Falcon told Killua what it was like to lose everything. Friends, family, home. Everything._

_At first, Killua hadn't understood what Falcon was telling him at all. It contradicted almost everything he'd ever been taught. But eventually, what Falcon had said started to make sense to him._

_That made Killua realize something: Killua was causing other people to suffer the same grief Falcon was. And for some reason, he didn't want to do that._

_If he didn't want to be part of the family trade, then he had to tell his parents right? So, off he went to go tell his mother._

"_No!" his mother had shrieked. "Absolutely not! I forbid it!"_

"_Why?" Killua had asked._

"_That is a disgraceful thought for one of the Zaoldyeck heirs! Who has been destroying your mind?"_

"_No one's been destroying my mind," Killua had muttered quietly._

"_Tell me who has been convincing you of these dreadful ideas!"_

"_Falcon hasn't been convincing me of anything dreadful!" Killua had blurted without thinking. That was his biggest mistake. He should never have uttered that name. Never._

_For the Zaoldyecks, breathing, moving, living…everything was for the kill. Since the day they were born, they were trained in the art of assassination. The father was an assassin. The mother was an assassin. The children were assassins. It was the family trade._

_He should have known._

_He should have known that he couldn't fight it._

_He should have known that one's fate couldn't be changed._

_The next day, there was warm blood dripping from his fingers, splattered on his clothes. Who's blood was it again? Oh, that's right. It was Falcon's. Killua's eyes slowly drifted from his blood-soaked hands to the unmoving corpse that lay in front of him. _

_Falcon was dead._

_Killua had killed him. After hearing what had happened from his mother, Illumi had ordered Killua to get rid of Falcon. Illumi was stronger._

_Never fight a superior opponent._

_Killua hadn't even been able to object. Now, he just stared at the situation in front of him._

"_Ah!" Illumi had exclaimed. "I knew you really didn't believe any of that servant's nonsense!"_

_Killua turned his gaze towards Illumi. He felt nothing. His heart was empty._

"_Of course, you didn't. You are incapable of seeing anyone as anything but a target. A son of the Zaoldyeck family doesn't need any 'friends'!" Illumi said, clapping his hands together. "Well, I'm sure you know that now."_

_Blood still seeped out of the fresh would in Falcon's still chest. Falcon's heart wouldn't beat anymore. They wouldn't be having fun together anymore. They wouldn't be smiling together anymore. They wouldn't be laughing together anymore. _

_Killua supposed Illumi was right. Killua didn't feel anything now that Falcon was dead. Killua really was a coldblooded murderer. He didn't need friends. He was incapable of seeing anyone as anything but a target._

_He wasn't even an adult yet… but how many had he killed? It had been years since he had been able to count the number he had killed on his fingers. On his toes. Even with tally marks. He had read one book where it said that each time you killed someone, it was like you were splitting your soul._

_Then how many pieces was his soul in?_

_All he could say in answer to that question was, "Two with a rather large exponent." Math had never been his strong point though, so he hadn't bothered to actually calculate it. Not that it mattered. He didn't really believe in that "splitting your soul" thing. He probably would have been dead a long time ago if it was true anyways. His soul would be in so many pieces that you probably couldn't even see it anymore._

_Fun, smiling, laughing… Only after the kill. Only for the kill. Only because of the kill. "Joy" was a brief feeling of accomplishment for having completed his job. It was nothing more and nothing less. If it became anymore than that, then it was a hindrance._

_And yet, why was he making the same mistake? This time, he had befriended Gon and Lucy. This time, it wasn't Falcon who would die. Falcon was already in the past. This time, it would be Gon and Lucy. _

Killua winced, refocusing his mind on the present. One of Illumi's pins had just grazed his skin…

"I'll ask you again," Illumi said. "Why go on?"

He wouldn't. He wouldn't go on, now that Illumi had found him. The only way for Gon and Lucy to survive this was for him to act as if his curiousity really was satisfied… even if, in reality, he really did want to get to know Gon and Lucy better… So what if Gon was naïve and ignorant? So what if Lucy was a weird Mop Head? Killua opened his mouth to say that he was would be going home after passing the exam, but instead, he found himself saying, "There are other things I want!"

"No there aren't."

Almost impulsively, Killua found himself going on. Why? Why was he telling Illumi this? By speaking, he would be killing them. "Yes there are!" he exclaimed. "And one thing most of all!"

"Tell me, Killua. What is that one thing?"

Killua shut his mouth. At least this way, he wouldn't blurt out anything that should be left unsaid. He would be punished for it later, but that was better than losing Gon and Lucy.

"Well…" Illumi said. "Speak up."

Killua fought to stop himself from saying anything. He really did. Perhaps it was partly because of his fear, and perhaps it was partly because of that strange pressure that Illumi, Lucy, and Hisoka emitted.

"There's really nothing is there?"

Again, Killua felt his mouth moving without his consent. "There is!" he blurted. "I want…" No. No! He wouldn't speak. He wouldn't say what he was thinking. No, absolutely not. No, no, no!

The pressure multiplied. It was almost as if an unknown force was moving his vocal chords and jaw. He might as well have been possessed by a ghost. As much resistance as Killua put forth, it was no use. "I want… to be friends with Gon… and Lucy." And from there on, he started babbling, telling everyone in the examination room what he wanted most in the world… "I'm so tired of killing… I just want to be kid… Hanging out, doing stuff with Gon… Playing with Lucy, spending time with her… Being with both of them… That's it."

No! He hadn't wanted to say any of that! Whatever Illumi had done to him, Killua couldn't lie to him. His only choice was to speak the truth. Terror began clawing it's greedy nails into his mind as he realized the situation. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the exam room boring into his back. If Gon had been here, he would have objected in quite an obstreperous manner to everything Illumi had said. Lucy stood on the side, a mixture of anxiety and shock clouding her expression.

"Gon is a novelty, a radiant presence who has piqued your curiosity. No more than that…"

"No…" Killua found himself saying. Why did he continue to speak? Why?

"…As for that girl you call Lucy, she is not who she seems to be…"

Under normal conditions, Killua would have demanded to know who Lucy really was, but the one time he actually wanted to speak, his jaw moved soundlessly, only mouthing the words he wanted to say.

"If you try to be friends with them… you will one day want to kill them. It's that simple. Killing him will be the only thing that will matter because you are, by nature, a murderer… I do believe I have taught you this once before?"

Yes, he had. And that was why Falcon had died. Killua lowered his eyes, realizing, again, that his brother was right. Last time, he had been able to kill Falcon just as ruthlessly as he had any other person. Would be able to kill Gon and Lucy just as easily?

A sharp pain seemed to resound with each beat of his heart.

"Killua, listen!" Leorio shouted from the sidelines. "This brother of yours is a jerk! He's full of it!"

Illumi turned to face Leorio… Stop. This wasn't what he wanted. Leorio needed to stop. Stop before he said something unnecessary…

"Take him down and pass already!"

Killua couldn't take down Illumi. That was a fact. Illumi was that superior opponent that he should never fight. Killua continued to stare at the floor.

"As for being friends with Gon and Lucy, no sweat man! You already are!"

No! That was the worst thing Leorio could have said. Stop, stop, stop! Why? Why was everything so inevitable?

Oh, that's right. That's why everything was so inevitable. He was a Zaoldyeck. And he should already know that his fate, as a Zaoldyeck, was set in stone. He couldn't change it. For a Zaoldyeck, breathing, moving, living, all for the kill. For a Zaoldyeck, fun, smiling, laughing, only after the kill.

"Hm… That's a problem," Illumi was saying. "Being friends with Killua… Guess I'll have to kill them."

The claws of terror had reached down from his mind and clutched his heart. He was in their grasp. A bead of sweat rolled down his chin. It was going to happen again. Even though it would be Illumi killing them this time, it would be the same thing. Because he had become friends with them, they would die. Because of him, they wouldn't be able to breath, move, live, anymore. Because of him, they wouldn't be able to have fun, smile, laugh, with anyone anymore. They would just be dead. The dead couldn't do any of those things anymore.

Death was the end.

"Assassins have no use for friends. They get in the way."

It was happening. How could he stop Illumi? How? How? _How?_

He couldn't.

Illumi was the superior opponent. Killua couldn't even move from where he was standing. Illumi was already walking away, moving towards Lucy. She would be the first one to go.

Why couldn't he do anything? Why couldn't he prevent his friends from dying? Why was he so helpless?

"Ah, wait. If I kill those people, I'll fail the exam and Kil will get an automatic pass. Hmm…"

A vain hope that Lucy and Gon might actually avoid being killed by Illumi had to be quickly quelled by Killua. That wouldn't be enough to stop Illumi…

"That's it! First I'll pass the exam… and then I'll kill them!"

* * *

Throughout the battle, Lucy found herself appalled at Illumi's treatment of Killua. She had seen Feitan's physical torture before, but Feitan rarely bothered with anything psychological. Feitan typically said that physical torture typically worked just as well, so there was no need to resort to psychological. But he had also said that, in many cases, psychological could be far more effective than physical.

And Feitan would never use any form of torture on his own family.

Yet, here was Illumi, torturing Killua psychologically. He was forcing Killua to speak. She could see Illumi's nen manipulating Killua to speak. The psychological effect of what Illumi was doing clearly wasn't good. It was horrible. Just horrible.

She didn't want to see Killua being tormented like this.

When Illumi had walked towards her, she had been able to feel the killing intent in his aura. He was serious. But for some reason, she was more scared for Killua than she was for herself.

What if she died? She didn't know. She had never really been_ afraid_ of death. She had never been afraid for her own, nor anyone else's… Although she did occasionally wonder what she would think if one of the Spiders died. That wouldn't happen though, so it didn't matter. What she found herself caring more about was whether Killua would be the same after this? This kind of situation never happened to the Spiders. Would he still be that annoying, bratty, idiot Gray Hair?

But everything would work out in the end, right?

Again, she had disconnected herself to what was happening. It was the movie, only existing on the television screen. She was watching it. It wasn't real. She couldn't bring herself to understand what she was feeling.

"What do you think Kil?" Illumi asked. "There's only one way to save them… and that's for you to fight me and win."

Fighting Illumi and win? There was no way Killua could do that when he still didn't have nen.

"But is saving Gon the reason you would fight me at this point? I rather doubt it…"

Illumi began to emit his aura again. The look on Killua's face… the point to which Illumi had driven him, was that someone who was powerless in his situation. Which was true. Killua couldn't do anything.

"You're not even thinking about your "friends" right now… the only question in your mind is whether you can beat me or not!"

Killua stiffened. Whether or not that was true, Lucy didn't know. But she felt like she should go out there and stop what was happening. Do something. Not just stand here. But this was Killua's match, not hers. Shalnark would tell her that going out there was reckless. She continued to do nothing.

Everything would work out fine in the end, right?

"And you have your answer already… you have no chance against me."

But Killua wasn't one of the Phantom Troupe. He was far, far weaker than any of them. What if everything didn't work out fine? What if she ended up dead? What if Gon ended up dead? What if Killua changed after this?

"Never fight a superior opponent. I made sure I hammered that lesson home."

Killua attempted to take a step back, but Illumi quickly stopped that.

Reaching his hand towards Killua, he said "Don't move. Your next move will signal the beginning of this battle. It will be that, or when my fingers touch you. There is only one other option. And it's your choice. However, if you chose it, your precious_ friends_ will die."

It was easy to see in Killua's eyes. It was plain to the world, really. Anyone could have identified the pure feeling of terror and impossibility embodied in his expression. She could tell that Illumi was mouthing Killua's worst nightmare. And she could tell that Killua knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Ignore him Killua! You don't have to worry about Gon and Lucy!" Leorio yelled. He was such a moron. Didn't he realize the situation? "If this goon makes a try for them, we'll bust his butt – that's a promise! So do what you want!"

Ha! "We'll bust his butt"? Like hell. Like hell that would happen. The only examinee that could do that to Illumi was Hisoka.

"…You win, Illumi. I admit defeat."

It wasn't a surprising outcome. Killua couldn't fight Illumi. From what Illumi had said, there were probably psychological barriers stemming from how Killua was raised that prevented him from doing so. Killua may or may not have realized that, but he appeared to have just signed her and Gon's death warrant.

Normally, Killua would never do that. Lucy knew that. Killua wasn't like his brother who couldn't even stay loyal to his friends. But Killua was driven so far into the corner that he had no choice. When Killua stabbed Bodoro, she knew what he would be leaving her, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio. His eyes weren't the way they were before. They were empty, black holes... lifeless.

_We accept everything, so don't take anything back._

Lucy wanted to scream that. She knew Killua would be taken back by the Zaoldyeck family. But she wasn't in Meteor City anymore, and she wasn't with the Spiders. She couldn't do anymore for Killua than Killua had been able to do against Illumi.

* * *

HikaruTsubasa drew Lucy for me! There's a link to his/her drawing on my profile page xD It's so cute~ =D

I also have another drawing of Lucy and Killua up~ And one of Lucy with Hanaiko from Hanaiko no Monogatari xD

...The book Killua mentioned was _Harry Potter_. Voldemort and his horcruxes... lol.

I have been recently addicted to the music from _Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron_~ It haven't listened to it then you really should~

Thanks for all the advice and ideas you guys gave me last chapter xD I'll be taking all of them into consideration~

Did you guys like the flashback with Falcon? I feel like I overused repetition in Killua's PoV... what did you think?

Review please~


	24. The Spiders in the Greasy Spoon

Okay, I had to rewrite this chapter once because I listened to the Jigoku Shoujo OST when I was writing it D;

The result: There was no humor at all in the chapter, it was dead serious, and rather dreary...

Yesterday, I learned that I must listen to happy music to write a happy chapter! *decided to go back to listening to Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron*

Also, I'm going to try to change the plot a little more from the anime/manga in this arc, simply because I didn't particularly like it, and I want to try to make it more interesting. Whether or not I succeed though... you'll just have to wait and see. The main idea, however, will remain the same (along with some other things that I'm not really sure how to change).

Special thanks to Snowy-Sonya, AcPa xox, KiGaMi, Sofia10Soccer, angelofdeath1119, featherfun, SaturnXK, westlife13, mio7, unknown player, and DragonDancer93 for reviewing =D I appreciate all the encouragement and ideas you guys have given me ^^

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. Lucy belongs to me.

I hope it's not too awkward that I just switched from the end of Killua's battle to the Spider's in the Greasy Spoon... Ah well. O_o...

* * *

**At the Greasy Spoon x Heart x Conscience**

Hisoka – that disgusting "magician" – had, oh so kindly, given Machi a call a few days ago telling her the exam was over. He could have called _anybody else_, but no, he _had _to call her. But that was just Hisoka's slimy personality wasn't it?

But in any case, she had contacted Shalnark and the two of them had decided to meet at the Greasy Spoon near the Exam Hall (of which Hisoka had given the location). Bonolenov had come with Shalnark, and the four of them – Machi, Shalnark, Bonolenov, and Hisoka – all stood outside, waiting for Luelle.

Luelle finally walked into the Greasy Spoon about half an hour after Shalnark had given her a phone call, telling her to meet them outside. By this point, if Ubou had been there, he would have given her a lecture on punctuality. Although Machi herself had never been late, whenever Nobunaga or Phinks turned up late, Ubou would go on quite the scolding rant. Nobunaga and Phinks would stand there and pretend to listen.

This time, of course, since Ubou wasn't there, it was Bonolenov who had a complaint about Luelle's tardiness. He had kept saying things along the lines of, "The Great Spirit does not condone the act of being tardy," and Machi had taken to ignoring him. Waiting really wasn't that terrible. It was pretty much all the majority of the world's population did anyways.

Upon seeing them, Luelle's face had visibly lit up. So much so that Machi almost thought that Luelle was going to run over and hug them all the way she used to when she was younger. Naturally though, that didn't happen, because she had long since decided that she was going to act more dignified and mature than that. She had said multiple times that she was going to be just like [insert a Spider's name here] when she grew up. And the Spider's didn't go around hugging each other.

Machi never had, and probably never would, figure out how little Luelle had gotten up the nerve to hug Feitan when she was younger. Machi wasn't sure if Luelle was just completely oblivious to the threat of a dangerous person or if she just wasn't scared of him because he was a Spider. Feitan had said he was going to kill her at least three or four times a day at one point. He never did. And so Luelle took it as an empty threat and kept doing whatever she pleased.

Which had included everything from drawing a mustache and beard on Feitan's face (no one saw them until he tried to eat his lo-mein because his clothes always covered his face) to tying his hair into a Pippi Longstocking style hair-do, complete with pink ribbons on the braids. One time, she even woke him up in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep. Machi, who had been half asleep at the time, remembered him telling her something along the lines of, "I kill you. Then you have no problem sleeping. You sleep _long_ time. You no wake up." At this, Luelle had promptly smiled and went to sleep. It was then that Machi remembered that Feitan had yet to tell her that he was going to kill her that day. The rest of the Spiders had had similar experiences with her. Including Machi. Luelle was a rather odd child.

And, just as Machi predicted, Luelle did not run over and hug them. Instead, she hobbled over, with quite some difficulty, from what Machi could tell. Okay, so the Hunter Exam hadn't been as easy for her as it had been for Shalnark. Machi wouldn't have expected anything otherwise.

"You're late, young one," Bonolenov informed Luelle.

Luelle turned to face him. She stared at him, as if she was trying to mentally process what she was seeing. And stared at him. And stared at him. Before turning up in the Greasy Spoon, Shalnark, Machi, and Bonolenov had decided to dress in somewhat normal attire so that they wouldn't stand out too much. They didn't care all that much whether people noticed them, but sometimes it could get a little annoying.

But Bonolenov, being Bonolenov, apparently had no idea how to be inconspicuous. He hadn't wanted to get rid of his bandages, so had simply decided to wear a big pair of black sunglasses, a tan-colored felt hat, and a long overcoat, the same color as the hat.

Luelle burst out laughing.

And Machi completely understood why.

Bonolenov, the poor soul, looked like the Invisible Man. And he didn't even know it. Machi had been rather interested in seeing Luelle's reaction at Bonolenov's choice of clothing, and Shalnark had probably felt it was more polite not to saying anything. As for Hisoka, he had let a slight grin slip onto his face when he saw him.

But Machi could tell that laughing was painful for Luelle, and so could Shalnark. She held her hand on her side and seemed to grimacing, despite the fact that she was laughing.

"Lu, are you injured?" Shalnark asked suddenly. He was, as usual, worrying about her. The only two things he openly worried about were Luelle and his cell phone.

After she finally stopped laughing, she said, quite defensively, that she was just fine.

"Oh really?~" Hisoka asked.

"The Great Spirit doesn't condone dishonesty," Bonolenov said.

"You are not," Machi said, after looking her over. Her movements were delayed because she had taken painkillers, and every once in awhile, just standing there, she would wince. It wasn't particularly obvious, but her voice slurred a little.

"I am too!" she argued. Machi ignored her.

"Stay still."

Luelle obeyed. It was a bit more difficult to sew up her broken ribs without actually being able to see them, but it wasn't a terrible set back. If it had been anyone but Luelle, Machi would have charged them several hundred zeni for the job.

It was like that for pretty much all of the Phantom Troupe though. If it was about Luelle, then they'd go out of their way to do something for her. As much as Luelle disliked it, they all protected her. Luelle had never been the type to admit to her weaknesses, perhaps because she was still a child and was trying to mimic those around her.

And in this case, "those around her" were the Spiders. She had grown up with most of them, and Machi often found herself treating Luelle the way she would treat a little sister. Even though she was only related by blood to Shalnark, she was as much his sister as she was the rest of theirs.

But, because of that, she was also their Achilles' heel. Kuroro referred to himself as the "head", and the rest of them were "legs". However, now that Hisoka had joined, there were thirteen legs and a head… more legs than accounted for on their tattoo. Instead of a leg, Luelle was more like the "heart".

No matter what kind of being it was, the heart was always the weak point. Always. One stab to the heart was death. Kuroro wanted the Spider to be able to survive without its head, but Machi would be lying if she said that didn't irk her. Kuroro was their leader, and nobody could really take his place. But how would the Spider survive without its heart?

Machi finished sewing up Luelle's injuries and broke the thread. Hopefully, the Spider just wouldn't lose its head or its heart.

"Arteries, bones, nerves, and muscles have all been sewed in 100%."

"My, my," Hisoka cooed in interest. "Such an interesting technique you have there ~"

"So what?" Machi asked.

"I'd like to try it out at some point ~"

"Then you had better pay the bill."

"Of course ~"

"Ahem," Shalnark interjected, cutting off Hisoka. "Luelle don't forget that Boss told you to train at the Celestial Tower. He wants you to win several matches on the 200th floor before coming to York Shin."

"I know," she told him, but she wasn't really looking at him when she said it. After she had finished laughing, Luelle had gotten quieter and more serious than Machi had seen her in awhile. She seemed to be deep in thought… Machi wondered what about.

"Small Lady won't be going quite yet though ~" Hisoka cooed.

"She won't?" Shalnark asked.

"Nope ~ She has something else to do first, don't you, Small Lady?"

Luelle shot him a threatening glare before agreeing and saying that she had another matter to attend to before she could go to the tower. Machi had rarely seen Luelle put something before one of Kuroro's orders. She wondered what could possibly be so important. Her intuition, however, was telling her that whatever that important something was, it would mean trouble in the future.

For quite some time after that, Hisoka just chuckled, quite eerily, to himself.

* * *

Although it had been short, seeing Shalnark, Machi, and Bonolenov had certainly been nice. It had made her happy and gotten that idiot Gray Hair off her mind for a little while. Ever since he had left, she couldn't stop feeling as if there was something missing. She was even scared that she wouldn't get to see him again.

But she also felt guilty. Normally, she would have told them about what happened at the Hunter Exam, but instead, she kept quiet. She felt as if she shouldn't tell them about Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio. She wasn't sure why, but she almost thought that something bad would happen if they knew. Perhaps it was because she _knew _something bad would happen in the reverse situation, if Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio knew about the Spiders.

Her conscience, however, did not appreciate her secretiveness. Her conscience kept telling her she shouldn't hide things from her family. But what choice did she have?

Lucy wasn't sure whether or not to be grateful to that creepy magician or not. She hadn't been sure how to tell Shalnark that she wanted to go and help that idiot Gray Hair before training, but Hisoka had managed to get her out of that situation without even mentioning where she was going and why. She was pretty sure that Machi would suspect something anyways though. She had never met anyone with a sharper intuition than Machi's.

But even if she did suspect something, it was only suspicion and nothing more.

Now that she was making her way back to the Exam Hall to get ready to leave the Exam Hall, she found that her meeting with the Spiders was only causing her further confusion.

How could Killua's family treat him that way?

It just wasn't right. It really wasn't.

The Spiders were her family, and the Zaoldyecks were Killua's. How could they be so different?

And at the same time, they were the same. Killing countless people, murderers.

She didn't understand.

But it wasn't just that that was on her mind. The reason she had taken half an hour to come out was because she had been with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio, determining the location of Kukuru Mountain. After Shalnark had called her, she couldn't help but wonder… What would Kurapica do if he saw her with them? What would he say? What about Gon and Leorio? And… Killua?

* * *

Okay, now that that's done and over with... I would like to announce that my sis and I are writing a Mary Sue guide. Whether or not it will be published... I don't really know xD

But I thought I'd advertise it anyways because I'm special like that.

Yes, yes, I am aware that "Small Lady" is also what Rini is called in Sailor Moon. But Hisoka always calls people "Princess" in other people's stories and I wanted to do something a bit different.

And before you ask, I did feel it was absolutely necessary to torture poor Feitan and Bonolenov. Feitan, because as you should all already know, I just like to torture him. Bonolenov because everybody forgets about him, and I think he deserves some attention.

And it's Halloween. So they might as well play dress up =D

Which reminds me. If the Spiders all gathered in a Greasy Spoon, they'd all look pretty strange.

Just imagine a samurai (Nobunaga), a kunoichi (Machi), a mummy (Bonolenov), a troll (Coltopi), a body builder (Ubou), a clown/magician (Hisoka), a pharaoh (Phinks), Frankenstein (Franklin), the creepiest Chinese guy of the century (Feitan), the Devil (or maybe an insane priest? O_o) (Kuroro), a geek (Shalnark), a business woman (Pakunoda), and a maid (Shizuku) sitting at a table.

No, that wouldn't be strange at all. ...Right? O_O

...And then, when Bonolenov talked about the "Great Spirit", I thought "...Shaman King."

Oh well. xD


	25. April Fools at the Hotel

Special thanks to Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, featherfun, AcPa xox, westlife13, Mimitalind, KiGaMi, angelofdeath1119, kyoko, unknown player, mio7, and SaturnXK for reviewing~ =3

Special thanks to my sister, KiGaMi, and Snowy-Sonya for helping me come up with the idea~

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

Yes, I realize this chapter is kind of random. I realize it's November, and I'm writing about April. It's not such a terrible thing. This chapter takes place in the middle of their journey to Killua's house. It's all fluff =3

* * *

**April 1****st**** x Pakunoda x Hisoka-style**

While Lucy had been with the Spiders, Kurapica had finished planning their trip to Kukuru Mountain. The first day would be the plane ride to Padokea, which would take a total of four hours (including waiting time and everything else – the plane ride really wasn't that long). That night, they would stay at a hotel. The next morning, they would ride a train to the city closest to Kukuru Mountain.

So where were they now?

The hotel.

Oh, and by the way… the date was April 1st.

Which meant Lucy was going to have some fun.

* * *

Pakunoda had always made sure Lucy made herself look decent. When Lucy was little, it had been Pakunoda who had chosen her outfits and Pakunoda who styled her hair. Which meant that it was also Pakunoda who had made sure Lucy cared, at least to a certain extent, about her appearance. And so Pakunoda had made sure that Lucy had her fair share of cosmetics and hair styling equipment.

And yeah, although she often didn't have time for such trifle things, Lucy did make some effort for her appearance. She might not have been the type to spend two hours styling her hair in the morning, but she did spend around ten minutes on it. And in order to do that, Lucy typically carried around some of her supplies.

From prior experience, Lucy knew how much guys hated certain things (she had made sure to test out all her theories on either Feitan or Phinks), so she decided to formulate a plan based off of those things. She smirked evilly to herself.

* * *

Gon wasn't sure why, but Lucy was being particularly creepy today. He had expected her to be more upset about Killua (she had been closer to him than the rest of them during the exam), but instead, she was laughing to herself, Hisoka-style. It sent shudders down his spine.

Maybe she had gone insane with worry?

Somehow, that seemed plausible with the way Lucy was acting now. She was _really_ creepy.

But either way, there had been something funny tasting about the water he was served in the buffet. He wasn't sure what was so odd about it, but he didn't really like it. Instead of drinking it, he decided to ask the waitress if she could get him an orange juice. At that point, Lucy seemed kind of disappointed about something. He couldn't figure out why she would be disappointed though.

A little later that night, shortly after Gon had taken his shower, Lucy came up to him and informed him that Kurapica and Leorio were sleeping. In her hand, she held a strange device that he had seen Aunt Mito trying to use a few times.

"So Leorio likes to go to sleep after he takes a shower?" Gon asked. Leorio had taken his shower a few minutes before Gon.

"I suppose so," Lucy replied.

"We should probably go to bed soon too then," Gon commented.

"Nah," Lucy said. That Hisoka-smirk was back. "Gon, want to try out a new look?"

"Huh?" Gon asked, confused.

"Well your hair is always super spiky like that! I thought a change might be nice ~"

"Eh?" Gon asked. She was even talking Hisoka-style! Sure, a new look didn't sound so bad, but he was kind of scared of Lucy right now…

"So, want to try it?" Lucy asked eagerly. She held out the strange device.

"Umm…" Gon thought for a second. "…Sure?" He felt like "No" would be a really bad answer.

"Okay then," Lucy said happily. "Come over here."

* * *

The next morning, Leorio woke up feeling more refreshed than usual. He thought that was awfully nice, but he was still too sleepy to look in the mirror while brushing his teeth. He would fix his hair later (although it felt really odd today for some reason…).And he wasn't going to shave today, so, in the end, he had failed to look in the mirror at all.

If he had, he probably would have flipped out. But he didn't. And that was that.

So Leorio went on his merry way to be his gentlemanly self. Even with his rather lacking cooking skills, he was able to make himself a nice, warm cup of coffee, which he drank while reading his newspaper. It certainly was a very normal morning.

Gon was, in Leorio's mind, taking things too lightly though. Gon thought that they were, "Just visiting a friend," but that wasn't quite right. It was pretty obvious that the situation was a lot more serious than that. Sometimes Gon was just too naïve.

He took another sip of his coffee.

Kurapica, on the other hand, needed to relax a bit. He was too tensed, too serious. Seriously, whenever he had the chance, Leorio would need to check Kurapica's blood pressure. Anyone as stressful as Kurapica surely had a blood pressure that was way too high.

He sipped his coffee once more.

And Lucy? Hmm… She was a bit of an odd case. When he had first seen her sleeping on Killua's shoulder on the blimp after the Second Exam, he had been so sure that the two of them were an item. But apparently not because she had denied it so vehemently. He wondered what was going on between the two of them. If there really was something more than friendship, then he could have some fun teasing them about it later.

He sipped his coffee again. Kurapica walked into the room.

* * *

Kurapica wondered why he had fallen asleep so early the night before. He had had plans of looking more into Kukuru Mountain since it was supposed to be a tourist attraction. But after dinner, he had felt incredibly sleepy, and, as such, he fell asleep.

He yawned. He felt like there was something on his face… but oh well. He doubted it. And he could just find out about Kukuru Mountain today instead. It wasn't that big of a deal.

More than researching Kukuru Mountain, he should be worrying about how to get Killua back. Kurapica was pretty sure that the Zaoldyecks would not let him go so easily this time. Especially since Killua had made friends at the Hunter Exam. It had already been made quite clear that the Zaoldyecks did not promote friendship.

The conclusion was that they had no choice but to hope it was easy to convince the Zaoldyecks to set Killua free. After all, it wasn't as if Gon, Lucy, Leorio, or he could fight the Zaoldyecks. If Killua was already as strong as he was at age twelve, the rest of the Zaoldyecks had to be simply terrifying. The four of them would probably die in a fight against a Zaoldyeck in less than five seconds.

Kurapica put on his clothes. Lucy's strength was probably around the same as Killua's, wasn't it? Save for that weird pressure she emitted from time to time. He wondered what kind of training Lucy had gone through in order to obtain her skill. Her regard for life seemed to be even lower than Killua's, and he couldn't help but question the situation she had grown up in. For that matter, she had disappeared for about an hour before they left the Hunter Committee's building. When she came back, her injuries seemed to have vanished into thin air. He wanted to ask her what she had been doing during that time, but he didn't think she would answer.

Kurapica sighed and walked into the dining room.

* * *

Lucy had certainly done something interesting with his appearance. Everyone had been in awe of his hair, saying that he used too much gel or whatever. It had only taken her half an hour to restyle it. It had even stayed that way overnight! She was even better at styling hair than Aunt Mito…

Gon ran his brush through his hair. Not only did it stay that way overnight, it continued to stay that way after he brushed it. She had certainly done an amazing job to his hair! He wondered if it suited him. If Kurapica and Leorio said it did, maybe he could ask Lucy how to do it for himself. And then he could show Killua his new hairstyle! Excitedly, he ran into the dining room to ask Kurapica and Leorio.

* * *

Lucy was trying very hard to stop herself from snickering. She had been watching from behind the curtain of the window. Cameras were a great invention. They really were. Especially when you managed to get pictures of people's priceless expressions. She would definitely have to make a photo album of this later.

Upon seeing Kurapica, Leorio's coffee cup had shattered on the floor.

Upon seeing Leorio, Kurapica slapped him.

Upon seeing Gon, they both stared, speechless.

Why?

Well, first Lucy had put a sleeping potion of some sort into Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio's drinks at the buffet. Gon hadn't drank it though, so she had had to come up with another measure to accomplish her goal with him.

But since Leorio had easily fallen to her sleeping potion, Lucy had switched out Leorio's shampoo with lotion. Now his hair was not only super greasy (and nearly impossible to style), but it looked like a pile of seaweed on top of his head. Oh yes, and by the way, she also wrote, "I love Kurapica" on his eyelids in black eyeliner while he was sleeping.

As for Kurapica (who had also drunken her sleeping potion), she had put on a nice layer of black eyeliner around his eyes, a little bit of mascara to bring out his eyelashes, a thin coating of blue eye shadow, and some nice red lipstick. It really did look quite nice on him. Too bad she had been unable to put a wig on him. Lucy had thought that he would have made a wonderful Disney princess.

And for Gon, Lucy had carefully styled his hair with the curling iron Pakunoda had given her. Instead of his normal spike-headed-ness, his hair looked an awful lot like an afro.

Ah, yes. Priceless. Absolutely priceless (not to mention that it made good blackmail). Too bad Killua hadn't been there. Then they could have caused even more trouble. Or maybe she could have just dumped a bucket of gray paint on his head.

* * *

Okay, I wanted to write this chapter because... It was fun =D

And I needed some fluff between Lucy, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio~

Hope you liked it xD


	26. The Great Wall

Special thanks to KiGaMi, Snowy-Sonya, angelofdeath1119, Sofia10Soccer, featherfun, AcPa xox, unknown player, mio7, westlife13, and SaturnXK for reviewing~ =3

Also, thanks to those of you who have alerted/favorited recently xD

And another thanks to CookieKrisp, KiGaMi, Snowy-Sonya, and SaturnXK for encouragement/helping me write this chapter~ xD

Hmm... what else did I have to say?

Oh yes. In this first section of flash back, "he" does not correspond to Hisoka (That's the first thing my sis asked when she read this chapter for me...).

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Togashi. - I have a feeling the disclaimers I used to write were a lot longer... O_o...

* * *

**Bus Ride x Gate to Hades x Puppets**

"_Is he all you can think about when he's not around, Machi?" Pakunoda asked._

_Machi was silent for a moment. "It doesn't matter."_

"_I know I told you that you shouldn't confess, but now you two won't be seeing each other for awhile. Not with this new partner system that he's come up with."_

"_So what? I'm not that weak."_

"_Do you have feelings for him? Still?"_

"_It's none of your business. In any case, at this point, it is already the past."_

_Machi and Pakunoda kept talking for some time after that… Luelle listened quietly from where she was sitting. She didn't really understand what they were talking about, but she felt as if she shouldn't intervene. Luelle had a feeling that they didn't know that she could hear them. She puzzled over what Pakunoda meant by Machi having feelings for "him" and "confessing", but it was only brief. It wasn't long before she went back to playing with her cards._

The scenery slowly passed by her as the bus bounced down the road. They weren't travelling particularly fast, making it particularly interesting to see the strange way the town gradually transformed into wilderness. Gon sat next to her, and Kurapica and Leorio were in the seat behind them. A variety of other passengers rode the bus… everyday civilians to men who were hairier than Ubou. A low mumbling ensued from their chatter.

An annoying cow-girl who insisted on having everyone call her "Coco-chan" stood in the front of the bus, describing the Zaoldyeck household. Some of the guys on the bus seemed to be completely enraptured by her [non-existent] sexiness. To Lucy, she just looked like an idiot. Lucy could totally see Killua making fun of her. She smiled inwardly, imagining what he would say to her.

It was kind of odd not having him around… she hadn't spent a lot of time with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio before had she? Come to think of it, she had almost always been with Killua. After running into him in the preliminary exams, she had even ended up stuck with him in the Trick Tower and the fourth exam.

It wasn't as if she had really missed the Spiders during the exam. Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio seemed to have made up for the lack of the Spiders' presence… In that short span of time – how long was it, three or four weeks? – they had become quite close. Even though they all had their flaws, she enjoyed being with them.

But yeah. Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio had missed the first tour bus they were going to take because they had spent so long trying to a) wipe make-up off their faces, b) wash their hair with real soap (and not lotion), or c) wonder what was wrong with their new hairstyles. That was, of course, after Kurapica and Leorio had spent an hour attempting (and failing) to procure the camera from Lucy.

No way was Lucy about to hand that camera over. The pictures on it were perfect for any future blackmail she might need. She wanted to show it to Killua to see his reaction. She wondered what he would say…

Would he laugh?

Or would he say that he could do better than that?

Or would he say that she should let him in on the fun next time?

…Wait.

Why did she even care?

Her face seemed to heat up a bit.

…

No, no. Forget it. She didn't care.

"Lucy, why is your face red?"

Oh damn it. Stupid Gon…her face definitely was not red. "Umm…" she began awkwardly.

Leorio's head popped up over the back of their seat. "I bet she's thinking of getting to see a certain someone."

Lucy felt her face grow hotter. "No way," she replied tersely. And, in a meager attempt to change the subject, "What ever happened to ogling that cow-lady, old man?"

"Ogling?" Gon asked. He was too innocent for his own good.

Kurapica sighed.

And that was a fairly good summary of how the rest of the bus ride went. Lucy's mind kept drifting towards Killua, Gon was confused, Leorio teased Lucy and stared at Coco-chan, and Kurapica wanted to pretend he didn't know them.

* * *

"_See, I've never been to my home country," Nobunaga explained. "Like you, I was born in Meteor City."_

"_Yeah," Luelle said. She looked at him expectantly, wondering what he would say next. Nobunaga had always been an interesting story teller. The stories his parents had told him of his home country were strange and different, but she liked them. One time, he had told her about this moon princess called "Kaguya" and another about this super strong boy called "Momotaro"._

"_But nearby, there is a country called Anich," Nobunaga continued. "Unlike Napaj, it is located on the continent and is also a lot bigger."_

"_Anich?" Luelle asked. "I think Shal may have mentioned it before…"_

"_He did? Well, okay. Anyways, in Anich, there is this big, long wall."_

"_A wall?" _

"_Yeah. It's more than 6,000 kilometers long!"_

_Luelle tried to imagine that distance in her head. "Wait," she said, suddenly remembering something about Anich. "Isn't Anich where Fei-kun is from?"_

"_Hmm… Might be," Nobunaga said thoughtfully. "But anyways, the wall is called the Great Wall of Anich! It can even be seen from outer space!"_

Ah, yes. The Great Wall of Anich. That was what Lucy thought of when she saw Killua's front door. The cow-lady had explained that it was the "Gate to Hades" (quite a corny name if you asked Lucy), but it was so huge that it would have been better called the Great Wall the Second. It did, she assumed, surround the entirety of Kukuru Mountain after all. Maybe it wasn't as long as the original Great Wall, but it was still gigantic. She would definitely have to tell Nobunaga about this discovery later.

Well, in any case, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio continued to gawk at Killua's front door. The rest of the crowd seemed to be displaying a similar reaction, except for the suspicious hairier-than Ubou man and his sidekick. Gon was still excited about this "visit to a friend's house", and Lucy found herself unable to fathom how he could be so dense. Clearly, with what Illumi had said to Killua at the exam, Killua's family would hardly welcome the four of them. Kurapica, who was the smartest of the three (but was still rather ignorant about his abilities, at least in Lucy's opinion), was analyzing the situation. Leorio, on the other hand, seemed to be calculating how much money it would cost to buy the entire Zaoldyeck property.

Lucy glanced at the cow-lady, who was still talking about the Zaoldyeck family as if they were the most intriguing thing in the world. Coco certainly made them seem as if the Zaoldyecks were part of a completely different world than the tourists. Lucy found herself a bit irked by what Coco was saying… it was too judgmental. Coco didn't even know Killua, but she made it sound as if Killua – and the rest of the Zaoldyecks for that matter – were almost inhuman. …What did it matter if they were from two different worlds?

In her mind, at least, it didn't matter. Kuroro, Shalnark, Machi, Pakunoda, Nobunaga, Ubou, Coltopi, Bonolenov, Shizuku, Franklin, Phinks, Feitan, and even that creepy magician Hisoka came from all sorts of backgrounds. Even with that, they were able to become close. Just like she, Killua, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio had become…

"Excuse me," Gon said, interrupting Lucy's thoughts. "How do you gain access?"

Haha… that poor cow-lady. Even Lucy knew that asking how you gain access to a clan of assassin's estate was rather idiotic. But then again, none of the Spiders would ever just walk in your front door anyways. Well, some of them would. And then they'd kill you. But ask to gain access? Pfft… they'd never bother with something as troublesome as that.

"Little boy…" the cow-lady replied. "…Weren't you listening? This is the estate of _murderers_! You don't want access!"

Ah, but they actually did. Stupid cow-lady. She could totally imagine Killua smirking and calling her a "brunette dumb enough to be blonde".

"It's all a bluff," the big, fat, hairier-than-Ubou man said arrogantly. "They stay hidden to create mystery.

"I hear there's a 100 million zeni reward just for their mug shots," his sidekick added.

Lucy looked the two men over. Neither of them could use nen. Both of them looked stupid. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that the government wouldn't put such a high reward on their mug shots if they weren't actually pretty strong. Even Ubou could have deduced that. Not the mention the fact that they wouldn't have been able to afford a property more expansive that a city. At this point, after judging that the two men had walnut-sized brains, Killua probably would have smugly asked them if they could beat a little kid like him. Then proceeded to beat them up in the span of about half a second.

"They rely on their mystique to shield them," the hairier-than-Ubou man said, walking over to the security guard's building.

Did these two guys really think that if that was true, then somebody else before them would have taken care of the Zaoldyecks already?

And it wasn't long before they were eaten by the Zaoldyecks guard dog called Mike. Surprising? Hardly.

* * *

Since finishing the Hunter Exam, Hisoka had been left with quite little to interest him. As such, he decided to visit the Celestial Tower once more. It had been a little while since he had gone there. There hadn't been enough interesting opponents as of late. Maybe this time there would be someone strong…

Well, in the mean time, he had the Spiders to toy with. They hadn't even mentioned him to Small Lady. Apparently, he was trusted enough… Hmm. There were some mysteries he had yet to find out about Luelle. Of course, it was rather odd that she had called herself "Lucy" during the Hunter Exam, but there was the even bigger puzzle as to why the Spiders took care of someone so much weaker than them. From what he could tell, it was because she was an important person to them… Perhaps she could be used in the future to exploit them.

He was the puppeteer. Everyone else was his puppets… A twisted grin spread across Hisoka's lips.

Hisoka took out his cell phone. She should be at the Zaoldyeck house by now, with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio. It wouldn't hurt to gain some trust among the Spiders… Even though he had their tattoo, they didn't accept him enough yet. Although fighting Kuroro was his main goal, betrayal sounded quite nice as well. His quiet chuckle was filled with anticipation for the future. He dialed Luelle's number.

"Hello?" she answered.

"It's me, Small Lady~" he replied.

"…What do you want?" she asked icily.

She was wary of him, eh? Sharp child, she was. "I thought I might help you ~" Hisoka cooed.

"…Help me?" she asked, sounding confused.

"You are a fellow member of the Phantom Troupe, are you not?"

"What about it?"

"I thought I'd lend you some assistance in getting onto the Zaoldyeck property."

She paused for a moment. Hisoka could tell she was unsure about trusting him, but this time, he really would help her. Naturally, though, it would be for his own benefit.

"What kind of assistance?" she asked.

"I'll ask Illumi to tell the body guards to let you guys in~"

"And why would he agree to do that?"

"That's for you to wonder and me to know, Small Lady~" Hisoka teased.

"…Whatever."

Hisoka heard some shouting that sounded an awful lot like Gon in the background. …Something about putting Killua on the phone. They were probably trying to get past the Zaoldyeck's front gate right now.

"…Fine," she eventually gave in.

"Alright then~" Hisoka crowed. "Bye~"

He heard a click as she cut off the connection. Hisoka then went to dial Illumi's number as he thought of what was in store for Luelle…

The closer she got to Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio, the more fun it would be when the time of the York Shin auction came around. Hisoka licked his lips; his eyes filled his sadistic lust… Perhaps the rest of the Phantom Troupe would be able to withstand the auction, but Small Lady would probably break… How intriguing it would be to watch her slowly be crushed by the pressure of being torn between both sides…

Lucy stared at her phone, wondering if it was a mistake to trust him. He was different than the rest of the Spiders… there was something _off_ about him. But Kuroro trusted him enough to let him join the Spiders, so she should trust him too, right?

Lucy hoped she had made the right decision…

But this time, Hisoka couldn't really make the situation any worse for them, so it couldn't be that bad.

She wondered what Killua would do in her situation… Then her mind drifted back to the conversation she had heard when she was little between Machi and Pakunoda.

"_Is he all you can think about when he's not around, Machi?"_

That was what Pakunoda had asked Machi. Thinking back, she could now figure out what they were talking about, just not who "he" was. Machi had been in love with someone…

But why was it? She kept thinking about Killua. No matter what, her thoughts would turn towards him. Why?

"_Do you have feelings for him?"_

No… No. She felt herself flushing again. She definitely didn't. It was normal to miss a… friend, wasn't it? Yeah… that was it. She only kept thinking about him because he was gone, and he was her friend. That was all.

* * *

Yes, I realize I'm very creative with the names of places. So far, we have had Iiawah, Anich, and Napaj. I think I was even more creative this time than I was with Falcon's name!

What? You don't agree? D;

I mean, when I get plushies, I name them "doggy" and "froggy" and "piggy"! I know I'm super super creative! And you know I spend HOURS coming up with these names!

...

(My poor cat. Her name is Cookie, but I spent the first two weeks after we got her calling her "Kitty"...)

(And now you're wondering why you care about my cat's name.)

Oh, by the way, do you guys think Lucy is a Mary Sue? Why or why not? (If you think she is, feel free to say so. I'm just curious ~ xD)

And I'm not really sure how well I wrote Hisoka's PoV in this chapter *is generally very bad at writing Hisoka*. I hope it's okay ^^;...

...I'm not really sure if the Great Wall can be seen from space or not either. O_o...

Anyways, review~ I appreciate hearing what you all have to say =3


	27. Killua, Zeno, and Canary

Alright, this is one of my shorter chapters... Sorry, my computer keeps crashing. -.-... If I don't upload next week, blame my computer. It crashes several times per day.

In any case, I don't even know how much sense I made this chapter, and I feel like Lucy is more Sue-ish than usual here (even though she doesn't physically appear anywhere in the chapter ^^;...) but oh well.

Special thanks:

Cookie Krisp for betaing.

KiGaMi, Snowy-Sonya, psychotic luv, and SaturnXK for encouragement/helping me come up with ideas (and also reviewing) =3

crazeh-neko74, AcPa xox, Bob is Hawt but I'm Hawter, Mimitalind, featherfun, kiara, westlife13, Sofia10Soccer, and mio7 for reviewing~

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

* * *

**Unforgettable x Zeno x Spiders**

His arms would have ached, if he could even feel them. His body bled, but not nearly as much as his soul. He would have been angry, furious even, if this wasn't the punishment he deserved.

Yeah, that's right. He did deserve it. Gon and Lucy had almost been killed because of him. He never should have gotten involved with them. Never.

Hot pain seared his skin as Milluki's whip lashed his skin once more. He mildly wondered how long they would have him stay here. How long it would be before he had to resume his former job – assassination. How long it would be before he was nothing more than a merciless killer.

And how long after that would it be before Gon and Lucy forgot about him?

For some reason, that idea hurt even more than the whip.

He didn't want them to forget.

But they needed to. He, Killua, was nothing more than an angel of death. Anyone who came too close to him died.

Gon probably would have tried to cheer him up.

Lucy would have laughed at him and told him he was being as dull and gray as his hair right now if she could hear his thoughts.

Another lash of the whip.

Heck, he needed to forget them too. But the moments they had spent together wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how much he willed them to. No, it hadn't been more than a few days since he last left them, but he couldn't clear his mind of Gon, Lucy, Kurapica, and Leorio.

It didn't work.

…

And he couldn't stop wondering what Lucy would ever say to Milluki if she saw his collection of anime figurines in his room.

Another lash.

"What are you smirking about?" Milluki demanded angrily.

Oh? He was smirking? Pfft, then it was probably because of what Lucy would say to Milluki. "Oh, nothing," Killua replied coolly.

Milluki let out a low growl. "You still can't lie, eh?"

"Lie? What are you talking about?"

Milluki punched him across the face. He was so easy to provoke.

* * *

Several hours later, Zeno walked into the torture chamber. Milluki had long since worn himself in a rather futile attempt to discipline Killua. Milluki needed more training to get in shape. Technological killing techniques were not the most reliable. Killua, on the other hand, was outstanding in physical fitness. However, his mindset was not that of an assassin, which was definitely a problem.

But in any case, that was not the reason why Zeno had decided to pay Killua a visit. The greater issue at hand was that Illumi had informed him that Killua's friends had decided to pay the Zaoldyeck household a visit. Illumi stated that he felt they could become dangerous in the future, but a certain ally of his was asking to let them past the Testing Gate. That ally of his would pay for their passage. Also, the examination of the four would be at least interesting, and perhaps even beneficial, to the Zaoldyecks.

One of them seemed like a pretty average guy. One of them was a survivor of the Kuruta massacre. One of them was Ging Freecs's son. The last one… he wouldn't have been able to identify her without Silva's help. Awhile back, Silva had ended up fighting the leader of the Phantom Troupe while on a mission. It was one of the only battles he had ever lost. While Silva fought the leader, there had been several bystanders… a man with no eyebrows, a short, glaring boy, a teenager with sandy brown hair, and a little girl. Quite a few years had passed since then, and the little girl had grown up a bit. She was the fourth member of the quartet, and the only one who knew nen. She was probably also a member of the Phantom Troupe. Illumi kindly informed him that the girl had gone by the name "Lucy" in the Hunter Exam.

Illumi's ally, whoever he may have been, appeared to be right in saying that this information would be "at least interesting, and perhaps even beneficial". If that girl really was a member of the Phantom Troupe, then she was quite adept in the art of murder and would most likely kill for money. Although she was not of a traditional assassin family, as were most of the women who married into the Zaoldyeck family, the Phantom Troupe was still prestigious. A connection to the Phantom Troupe could become a handy asset in the future.

As such, Zeno had sent a message to the janitor at the front gate that he could let the four of them in. Now that he knew who they were, the next step would be to observe them.

In the meantime, he would talk to Killua about that girl and see what Killua thought of her. Although marriages in the Zaoldyeck house were typically arranged, it was no good if the girl and the boy hated each other. What the Zaoldyecks were looking for were marriages that would prove advantageous to their status and power. Two people who couldn't get along would only hinder the family.

"So, Kil, I got a call from Illumi," Zeno began.

Killua turned his gaze towards him.

"Tell me about these friends of yours."

Killua frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

"They're on our property right now."

Silence.

"Ahem. Their names are Gon, Kurapica, Leorio, and Lucy, right?

Killua nodded.

"Tell me about Gon."

Killua hesitated for a second before he said, "…He's different than anyone I've met before."

"How so?"

"He's… weird."

Zeno paused for a second, deciding whether or not to inquire further about Gon Freecs. Well, he could ask Illumi later. "What about Kurapica?"

"He thinks too much."

"Leorio?"

"An old man."

"Lucy?"

Killua opened his mouth to speak, turned a pale pink, and shut it again. My, my, how interesting. Lucy might just be a good match for Killua.

"What about Lucy?" Zeno repeated.

"Cheh, what about that stupid Mop Head?"

Hmm… Killua's lying abilities needed work. Zeno would have to remedy that later. "Tell me about her."

"She eats way too much vanilla."

"Is that so?" Zeno asked.

"Yeah. She kept eating it during the fourth exam! It was disgusting!"

Zeno chuckled. That girl managed to bring out all of Killua's weak points… that could be either harmful or beneficial. If an enemy noticed it, it could end up with Killua's death. However, since it was one of the Zaoldyecks who noticed it, it could be used to help train him. So far, this girl seemed pretty useful. "Is she good at fighting?"

"…She has a weird power," Killua said. That "weird power" was probably nen. If she already knew it, then chances were, she really was one of the Phantom Troupe. Zeno grinned. Lucy passed. Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio would be allowed to go to, at most, the butler's quarters. Lucy, on the other hand, would be coming up to the main house. She seemed like a rather good fiancée candidate for Killua.

* * *

The memory wouldn't fade from Canary's mind… the dream, it haunted her. She hadn't dreamt of it in quite some time, but that day, she dreamt of it once more.

"_Canary!" Falcon exclaimed, munching on his chocolate while pointing at a spider weaving its web on a nearby tree. They had gone on a shopping trip to a neighboring village, and, as usual, Falcon had picked up some chocolate on the way. "Do you think spiders are heartless?"_

"_Eh? What do you mean?" Canary asked. Falcon always said the strangest things._

"_Well, it's just that they can kill their prey without a second thought, even if it's another spider. But a human who kills another human mercilessly is considered heartless."_

"_It's just the way they live."_

"_How so?"_

"_Some of them are brought up that way by their parents, but the ones who don't have parents are simply following their instincts. But whether or not they have parents they are just doing whatever is necessary to survive."_

"_Hmm… You think so?" Falcon asked. He was always skeptical._

"_Yeah…" Canary said, looking into the distance. There was an awful lot of smoke… why? _

The memory blurred, moving to a time about half an hour later…

_The crackling of flames… all of the screams… people running around, desperately trying to escape. It was chaos. Turmoil. And in the middle of it all stood only five people… Her mother's body at their feet. It was naught but a child who had killed her._

Canary awoke suddenly, breathing heavily. Everything from that day remained as vivid in her mind as the day it had happened. She wished she could forget everything about that day… Erase it. Forget it every happened.

But forgetting would do little to change the past.

Forgetting wouldn't bring back the villagers. Or her mother. Or… Falcon.

…

She still didn't know the truth about what happened to him. She had simply been told that he had been killed because of an "accident"…

Yes, an "accident". She knew what that "accident" was… It was making friends with Killua. For that, one of them had killed him. But who?

She didn't know.

And it was better that way. If she had no target to direct her anger at, then she couldn't be angry at anyone besides herself. Her family was murdered for no reason at all, and for that, she despised the Phantom Troupe… that little girl in particular. Falcon, on the other hand, had been killed because she hadn't been able to make him follow the rules of the Zaoldyeck house. Killed because she hadn't watched him close enough. Killed because she had gotten him involved with her quest for strength… her quest to get stronger, in order to get her revenge.

Hot tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks. If it hadn't been for the Phantom Troupe, no one would have had to die… not even Falcon.

* * *

So... I don't know how well I portrayed Zeno or Canary, but I figured neither of them had super in-depth characters anyways.

This chapter was a bit more serious than a lot of the chapters I've written recently... O_o... ah well.

Notes: The battle with Kuroro and Silva was briefly mentioned in a flashback in the chapter called, "Trick Tower 3: Lucy vs. Majitani" (Chapter 11). The flashback where Lucy and the Phantom Troupe were in Canary and Falcon's village was in the chapter called, "Fourth Exam 3" (Chapter 19). It was the one that everybody assumed was from the Kuruta village.

Hope you enjoyed it~ =3

Review please xD (I appreciate every review [except flames, if you have something bad to say to me about my story, then please be constructive], even if you think it's stupid/repetitive/whatever~ =3)


	28. At the Butlers' Quarters

Alright... so~

Special thanks:

Cookie Krisp and psychotic luv for beta-ing.

Made of Blue for awesome con/crit.

Everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited/etc xD~

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi

* * *

**Message x Butlers x Guest**

So far, the three kids and the man who had claimed to be Killua's friends had stayed behind after seeing Mike eat two men. The young boy, Gon, had also called and yelled at the butlers with no hesitation whatsoever. And now, that same boy was about to do something suicidal: Going over the Testing Gate with his fishing rod.

Zebulo wasn't really sure what to think of the children. They didn't seem to have any harm in mind for Killua, and none of them posed any real harm to the Zaoldyecks.

Honestly, he found himself hoping that they really would get to see Killua. The idea of a Zaoldyeck having friends would have been absurd if he was talking about any Zaoldyeck other than Killua. Killua had always been different from the others. As prodigious as he was at his family trade, it seemed as if Killua was just someone who was born into the wrong family… He could have been a normal kid if he had been born under slightly different circumstances.

But despite the ridiculousness of it all, Killua had managed to make friends – close friends at that. Even though the Zaoldyecks could easily kill them, they weren't afraid. They still wanted to bring him back. Especially the boy called Gon.

He had a feeling the girl really wanted him back too, but he wasn't really sure why. While Gon was making his phone call to the butlers' quarters, she had gone off by herself to make a phone call of her own. Out of the four of them, she had been the quietest, always staring off into space. But when she was talking, chances were, she was calling Leorio an old man or something of the sort.

Zebulo wanted to help them but wasn't sure if he could. Although his job was simply to clean up after Mike, he doubted he should be helping people get into the Zaoldyeck property.

It was just as he was pondering whether or not to help them that he received a message saying to let Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio in. As for Lucy, two body guards would come to pick her up.

Zebulo was relieved that the four of them would be allowed inside, but such a thing was unprecedented. Of course, claiming to be a Zaoldyeck's friend was also unprecedented.

Zebulo decided to go help them open the gate.

* * *

One would think that it would be difficult to be quieter than a mouth-less man.

But apparently, it wasn't because the two body guards who had come to pick her up spoke even less than that weird first examiner, Satotsu.

Well, she supposed Feitan didn't talk all that much either. Whatever.

When the body guards had come to pick her up, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio had all been rather stunned – as had she. The body guards had taken with her with them, saying something along the lines of Lucy was the only one with the "qualifications to enter". While she walked away, she heard Gon saying that he, Kurapica, and Leorio needed to work harder to also be "qualified". Although she didn't know how Hisoka had convinced the Zaoldyecks to let her in, he sure got things done quickly.

…She still wasn't able to fully trust him though. She wondered if she just didn't _want_ to trust him… But he was a Spider too… so maybe she was being too judgmental.

In any case, Killua's house was _way_ too big. Was it really necessary to purchase an entire mountain? Really? _Really?_

The Zaoldyeck property was probably bigger than all of Meteor City. Show-offs… Seriously, couldn't they have bought something much more useful with all that money?

Or maybe they were just hoarding all the money. She wouldn't be surprised if the entire world's economy went into a recession because the Zaoldyecks kept all the cash for themselves. They even had enough money to build a mansion to be just the butlers' quarters (but she had yet to figure out what kind of builder would want to build something on the Zaoldyeck property). If the butlers' quarters were that big, the Zaoldyeck mansion must have been big enough to be a labyrinth.

The Zaoldyecks probably had enough money to bring all of Meteor City out of poverty.

But whatever – that wasn't the point.

* * *

Killua wasn't entirely sure why, but his grandfather had let him out of the torture room rather early. Nor was he sure why his grandfather had asked him all those weird questions. It seemed as if their answers would be totally irrelevant at this point. Killua mildly wondered if his grandfather was planning something as he turned on his television.

…

But then he found himself thinking that Gon wouldn't get any of the humor in the show, and Lucy would be calling him a perverted Gray Hair.

So then he got out his JoyStation.

But then he put it away again because no matter what game he played, he kept thinking of how he would beat Lucy in it if she ever played him.

So then he got out his secret stash of chocolate.

…

And the first thing that came to mind was Lucy telling him that he had dysfunctional taste buds.

Geez. No matter what he did, his thoughts kept wandering back to either Gon or Lucy. Lying down on his bed, Killua decided the best thing to do would be to just sleep…

* * *

The butlers' quarters were awfully bright in comparison to the rest of the Zaoldyeck property, with golden walls, extravagant rugs, and large chandeliers. Canary had only been up to the main house a few times, but it was so dark and gloomy with its cold stone walls.

The head butler, Goto, had informed her that they were going to be hosting a guest of the Zaoldyecks for one night. Canary wondered who that guest would be, and what he/she had to do with the Zaoldyecks. It was then that Lucci and Bano walked into the room with the aforementioned guest.

Auburn hair.

Pale green eyes.

Just about the right age…

Canary's hand clenched into a tight fist in an attempt to restrain herself. The reason she had chosen to work for the Zaoldyecks in the first place had been for her goal to get stronger… strong enough to fight against the Spiders. Only once she was strong enough would she go after them… But now, the one she despised the most had come to her.

This… this was her chance. Her rage, her fury, her hatred sizzled for a moment before she lost control.

Canary sprung.

But it was over in a second. Two butlers held her hands behind her back, and Goto held his hand to her throat.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a voice, cold as ice. His ren emanated throughout the room.

Canary glared at him. "Don't stop me!" she yelled back in response.

"Lucy-sama is a guest of the house," Goto said. "You are not to harm her in any way."

"I don't care about that!" Canary shouted desperately. Goto… he had raised her. He had almost taken the place of her father. But now… her frustration boiled over…

It was amazing what frustration could do to a person. It could make you loathe the people closest to you.

And that was how Canary felt as she struggled to break free… to escape… to attack that girl.

"Canary, the orders of the Masters of the House are absolute," Goto continued.

The girl who had killed her mother stood right in front of her.

Why? Why couldn't she kill her?

_Why?_

She was so close, yet so far…

"She's the one!" Canary shrieked. "She's the one! She's the one who killed Mother…"

Again, the tears were flowing down her cheeks. The auburn-haired girl had simply been eying Canary, ready to attack if necessary. Goto was silent.

"So what?" the girl asked. Her eyes betrayed no emotion. She couldn't care less about the people she had killed.

Canary had already known that, but somehow, she had hoped that the girl would feel the weight of her sins.

"…So what? Is that all you have to say?" Canary demanded. "You're despicable! How could you be so apathetic?"

"You're calling _me_ apathetic?" the girl laughed sardonically. "I doubt your employers would have any more sympathy for someone like you than I do."

"What would you do if someone killed one of your own family members?"

"Unlike whoever your mother was, they aren't weak."

That was the last thing she heard before Goto knocked her out.

* * *

Alright... There's good news and bad news.

mio7 and psychotic luv drew Lucy for me xD Links are on my profile~ =D

And... I might go on hiatus for a few weeks. Frankly, I have no idea where I'm going in this arc yet, so I really need to organize my ideas... otherwise I will have a ton of plot holes. Sorry ^^;...

(...That would also be the reason for the short chapter)

If you have anything to say/ask me, feel free to PM =3

Now I'll leave you a few traumatizing things to ponder...

1. What if... Hisoka was Ging? D;

(...In some ways, it actually makes sense! [Thankfully, it's _some_, not _all_...] Now let's all pray that it's not true.)

2. SilvaXKikyou fluff. (I swear, the creepiest couple in the HxH fandom is canon! D;)

3. A Zaoldyeck wedding. (Kikyou's wedding dress... and Silva in a white suit? O_O...Who would their guests be? D; )


	29. Zaoldyeck House: Day 1

Yay! I'm back~ I [mostly] know what I'm gonna write in this arc. Some of my ideas are downright absurd.

But that's okay. Because that makes life more fun~

Special thanks to all of you who have reviewed =3

I should have had this beta'ed, but... I'm in an irresponsible mood, and I don't feel like it~ *sparkly eyes*

So yeah.

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Togashi.

* * *

**A Kill a Day x Red Peppers x Frustration**

"What is this whole potential engagement thing?" Kikyou exclaimed loudly. "I strongly disapprove! I doubt this girl would be suited for my darling Killua!"

"Calm down, calm down," Zeno told her. "You have not even met her yet."

"But Father-in-Law! What if this girl holds my Kil back?"

"Kikyou," Silva said in such a way that emphasized his power over her. He then turned to Zeno, "Is that why you asked me about her before?" he asked.

"Ah, yes. Quite insightful, you are. Although it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure that out."

"Yes, yes, Father. Well, the girl could become quite a good influence on Killua if she really is a member of the Phantom Troupe. They are all skilled killers… if a bit lacking in discipline. They kill whenever they feel like killing, and we kill for money."

"I believe that can be easily resolved though," Zeno said.

"Hmm…" Silva said. "Well, I do believe it would be interesting. And, at the very least, she could keep his killing instincts sharp and give him someone to train with."

"But this is madness!" Kikyou objected again. "We're at the most crucial stage in Kil's development as head of the family!"

"That's exactly why we need to allow this," Silva said. "One day, Kil will have to manage the family himself with someone who is strong enough and can uphold our legacy."

"Well, this '_Lucy_' has better be worthy!"

Zeno chuckled. "Well, we'll just have to see."

* * *

The main house was awfully dark and dreary in comparison to the Butler's Quarters. The butlers had left her in this random corridor, telling her to wait for one of the masters. There were no sunny golden walls, and there were no sparkly chandeliers. Instead, the walls were made of gray brick, and small torches let out just enough light to dimly light the passage. Honestly, it was like walking into a dungeon. Feitan would love this place.

"_What would you do if someone killed one of your own family members?"_

What would she do if Feitan was killed?

What would she do if any of the other Spiders were killed? Shalnark? Kuroro? Ubou? Machi? Phinks? Paku? Nobunaga? Coltopi? Bonolenov? Shizuku? Franklin?

No, they wouldn't be killed.

If you were killed, then you were weak. The Spiders were strong.

"So you are Lucy, I take it?"

Lucy swung around to face a slightly bent over old man. She hadn't even noticed him until he spoke… she wondered how long he had been standing there. She could tell that he was strong. There was a reason Kuroro respected the Zaoldyecks. The old man was shorter than her, must have spent an awful lot of time styling his hair for an old man (it looked like it had been gelled at least), and had a very funny-looking mustache. On his clothes, he wore a sign saying, "A Kill a Day". Not a bad slogan, Lucy supposed.

"Judging from your reaction, I'd say yes," the old man continued. Then he turned around and started walking away. "Follow me."

She was rather confused about the identity of the old man, but she followed anyways.

"The Zaoldyeck family has been a clan of assassins for generations," the old man said. "Through the years, we have honed our skills to become one of the strongest of all times, not to mention the most reliable. Criido Zaoldyeck, our founder, was born three hundred years ago…"

Lucy wondered why in the world she cared about the history of the Zaoldyeck family. The old man (who eventually informed her that his name was Zeno during his history lesson) kept walking through who-knew-how-many winding corridors – some with pictures of dead family members, others just cold gray stone – and up various staircases. The Zaoldyeck mansion was not just a dungeon, it was a labyrinth, Lucy decided.

"…You're a member of the Phantom Troupe, are you not?" Zeno asked, turning around to face her.

Lucy froze. How did this old geezer know who she was anyways? What had Hisoka told them to get her in? "What do you want?" she asked coldly.

Zeno watched her with the expression of a teacher giving advice to a student. "Relax," he told her. "It is good that you're on your guard, but if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead."

That was true… but still. What if he told Killua? "Fine," she said. "I am. But don't tell anyone that."

Although he cocked an eyebrow, Zeno agreed, and then told her that they had arrived at his daughter-in-law's room.

* * *

Lucy glared at her outfit in great displeasure. _Very_ great displeasure. The things she would wear for that Idiot Gray Hair. Killua's mother was, from what she could tell, bipolar, quite mad, and overly dramatic. The crazy woman had spent a full three hours forcing Lucy to try on different gowns, dresses, kimonos, and various other impractical outfits. And at each one (Lucy had to wonder how endless the woman's wardrobe was), the woman would say something along the lines of, "No, no, that is not good enough for my darling Killua!", "Ah!~ I've never seen such a horror in my life!", or "My, my, you are simply hopeless!", and Lucy would frequently wonder why the crazy woman insisted on wearing that bright yellow hat with the weird yellow dress with the bizarre device on her face. Not only was she wearing the strangest outfit Lucy had ever seen, she was like one of those insane creepy dolls right from out of Phinks's horror movie collection. Yes, Lucy decided, she looked like a walking, breathing, creepy, porcelain doll. Perhaps the reason for the bandages was that, before she came to life (perhaps by some nen ability?), she had had her face smashed in by some Zaoldyeck throwing a temper tantrum. And maybe that had affected her brain as well. Ah yes, that explained a lot.

And thus, Lucy now found herself wearing some awful, terribly tasteless, light pink Lolita dress with a hoop skirt. She didn't know how many layers of frills made up the skirt (nor did she want to), and the bodice of the dress was strung up with a long pink ribbon. Lace decorated every edge of the fabric possible, and Lucy couldn't help but find the dress rather scratchy because of that. Oh right. She forgot to mention that the dress must have had at least five bows on it and butterfly sleeves. This had to be the most ridiculous outfit she had ever been forced to wear.

…If Nobunaga saw her like this, he would be laughing for days on end.

But apparently, such attire was required for a female of the Zaoldyeck household (as well as for visitors, since they were making her wear it as well). The youngest Zaoldyeck was wearing a kimono, which had to be even harder to move around in than her current attire.

And that was what was going through Lucy's mind as she sat down in the Zaoldyeck dining hall for dinner. There was Zeno, a man with muscles nearly as big as Ubou's with long, wavy silver hair, the second fattest guy she had ever seen - the first was Buhara - (but this guy he was also quite grouchy… something about the fact that they never ate dinner together and he should just be allowed to eat in his room. The crazy woman had informed him though that this was a special occasion, so he would have to deal with it. That was followed with a short whine of, "But Mommy –"although he abruptly shut up when the muscular man glared at him), the Idiot Gray Hair, the crazy woman, and the… the… _boy_ wearing the kimono. Killua's eyes had widened the moment he saw her, and he began staring at the table.

Lucy found that that irked her. She came all this way, was forced to wear the worst get-up she had ever laid her eyes upon, and even had to get Hisoka's help to get in here, and he was going to ignore her. Jerk. It was all his fault to begin with – he was the one who had left. So she decided to ignore him as well.

Upon closer inspection, Lucy realized that she had seen the muscular man before. Long ago, a man had been sent to kill Kuroro… and failed. This here was that very man. Kuroro could have killed him, but after some other idiot sacrificed himself, Kuroro lost interest, and they left. Perhaps it was not Hisoka who had informed them that she was a Spider after all. It could have been that that man, Silva (as she soon found out his name was), recognized her as well.

"Mil!" the crazy woman exclaimed. "You must eat your peppers!" Soon after Lucy had sat down, some butlers had brought food to the table. She wasn't quite sure why, but much of it consisted of red peppers. She had to admit though, she liked the peppers.

This "Mil", the Pig Man, looked at his red peppers in discontent, picking at them with his fork. "Do I have to Mommy?" he asked.

"Of course, dear! How could you not eat such delectable morsels? That is simply scandalous! Kalluto, you too! I thought I had taught you two proper manners! I shall have to teach you once more!"

The Pig Man and Kalluto started eating their red peppers.

Killua continued to pick at his plate.

* * *

The rest of the Zaoldyecks had finished eating and left the dining hall, and Lucy, determined to ignore Killua, was about to leave with them (although she wasn't really sure where she would go), when Killua grabbed her wrist.

"What is it?" she asked icily. "Now you have something to say to me after ignoring me from the second you saw me?"

"Why are you here?" Killua demanded. What were the emotions in his voice?

Worry? Fear? Anxiety?

Why?

He was the one who had left. Those were what she should be feeling! Not him.

"To bring you back, you moron," she said, almost angry now.

"I left for a reason you know," Killua muttered.

She still didn't understand. "Well, it was a stupid one."

Killua glared at her. "How did you get in here?"

"Hmph," she said. She didn't really want to answer him. "I don't know."

Well, it wasn't a lie. She didn't know what Hisoka had said to persuade them to let her in.

"Tch…" Killua said. Lucy could tell he was upset about something, but she couldn't figure out what. He had walked into this mess by himself, and she, Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio were stuck with the task of dragging him out of it. He should be grateful that they came to get him, but instead, he seemed almost frustrated with them. Maybe she shouldn't have come to see him after all. It wasn't like she would have missed an ungrateful jerk like him.

And then, Kikyou dragged Lucy off to go find her some "proper nightclothes".

* * *

Hmm... I like the Zaoldyecks. Especially Milluki and Killua. And now you probably all think I'm crazy for liking Milluki, but you will find out why later!~ x3

I like Zeno too though. He's cool =D

And for some reason, I love Alluka~ He's just so mysterious~

Originally, I didn't really like this arc, but now I think it will be kinda fun to write xD

I hope you will have as much fun reading it as I will writing it~

Do feel free to tell me your opinions on any developments.

Now, on a random note, what is your opinion of Zeno? (not in my story, just in general). Do you think he's like all the other Zaoldyecks and disapproves of friendship, or do you think he somewhat supports it?

...

As for updates: I will be trying to update at least once every two weeks. My schedules a bit busier now (I have to start learning how to drive... Most people say that me driver = very traumatizing idea D; ) so it will be hard to update as frequently . Sorry! I'll still be somewhat regular though =3

Review please =D


	30. Zaoldyeck House: Day 2

Alright! Let's see...

Thanks to all my reviewers/alerters/favoriters/etc~

I'm gonna be irresponsible again this week. So I didn't have this beta'ed.

I'm sorry to all of you whose messages I am late on replying to. I'm getting there. I WILL reply!

Based off of the majority of reviewers, I will be assuming that Zeno does support friendship. If you disagree on that point, then go ahead and think Zeno is OOC. Also, I will be characterizing Milluki in a different viewpoint to how you're normally used to seeing him. I feel that Togashi doesn't deal with the Zaoldyecks all that much, so I'm going to use them how I please. I hope you people don't mind if I have a bit of fun with them~

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi

* * *

**Sharing x Frustration x Sailor Moon**

After Kikyou had dragged Lucy away from Killua, she had shown Lucy to her room with the most outrageous yellow canopy bed she'd ever seen. Apparently, Kikyou liked yellow frilly things.

…

Lucy, on the other hand, hated them. Frills were okay (in small amounts), but she absolutely despised the color yellow. Lucy liked purple, not its complementary color, yellow.

And to make it worse, the stupid thing was so thin that it was almost transparent. What if someone walked in to her room? Like… Killua. No, no. He definitely wouldn't. He had better at least have the decency to knock. If he saw her wearing this… her face heated up. No, he absolutely would _not _see her wearing this. There was absolutely no way that she would let _anyone_ see her wearing this atrocity. She frantically looked around her room for her old outfit and felt extremely relieved to have it back.

"Lucy-sama," Lucy heard a butler's voice from behind the door. "I have your breakfast."

"Okay," she said and walked over to the door to get it. She wondered what Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio were up to now… And what they thought of her getting into the mansion. But she felt that from here, she was much more likely to be able to bring Killua back.

She was kind of annoyed with him now though. Did he even _want_ to come back? He had even asked her why she was there… Wasn't it obvious? Hmph.

* * *

Kurapica found himself stuck thinking about Lucy's mysteriousness once more. And it wasn't the first time, or the second, or even the third. He had thought she was kind of odd many times before. The more he thought about it, the more he thought she had some sort of secret that she wasn't telling them.

At the moment, he had two questions: Who called her while Gon was talking to the butlers, and what were these "qualifications to enter" that the butlers that Lucy had gone with mentioned?

Well, he could figure that out later he supposed. The more immediate problem at hand was that he was stuck cooking with several hundred pounds of weights on him, not to mention a seventy pound ladle and a two hundred pound pot. Apparently, he was supposed to be making curry. But chopping vegetables and meat with a sixty pound knife was not easy. Especially not with all the weights he was wearing at the moment. Why had he ended up with cooking duty again? Kurapica groaned.

Irritated, Kurapica glared at the pot. He was going to have to take off the lid soon to stir it. How much did that lid weigh again? Next time, no matter how poisonous the food might end up, Leorio would definitely be the one doing this. Definitely. His muscles ached painfully, and Kurapica wondered how he would possibly survive till the end of their training. But earlier, Gon had been running around in all those weights as if they were plain old silk. Not to mention that he had a broken bone or two. Then again, he wasn't Gon. Gon was … something else. No matter what Hanzo had done to him, he hadn't given up. He had also managed to snag Hisoka's badge during the fourth exam…

"_I know something interesting about the Spiders…"_

That was what Hisoka had told him during their fight in the Final Exam before giving up.

"_Wishing for everlasting peace in our souls, I desire to share happiness with my people and desire to share their sadness…"_

The Kuruta people were one. His mother and father had made sure he remembered that, back while they were still alive.

_Screaming, fire, pain, death._

_Loss, sorrow, bitterness, fury._

_Revenge._

And now he was the only one left to bear their emotions. To carry out their wishes.

* * *

Killua punched the wall in frustration. What the hell was wrong with them?

Was it so difficult for them to see the reason that he left?

He hadn't left because he wanted to be saved. He had left because he didn't want them to be killed. So what did they do?

They walked right back into that very same danger.

Killua cursed under his breath.

What. the. Hell.

How stupid could they be? Did they have a death wish or something? Were they trying to get themselves killed?

Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio were somewhere on his property, and Lucy was in his freaking house. What kind of sick taste of humor did fate have anyways? Damn it.

…

Why the hell did they have to come?

What would he do if they died?

How much did they mean to him?

How much would he do for them?

…

"_Kill him. You live for the kill. You are a Zaoldyeck. You stop at nothing to kill your target."_

His father's voice was all that was needed. No matter how much Falcon had meant, he had done nothing.

Would he be able to protect his friends, despite that? Or was he their biggest threat?

And for that matter, why had his family let them in? Well, he supposed he could try asking his mother... He wasn't quite sure where his father and grandfather were at the moment.

* * *

This girl clearly was not suitable for her darling Killua! No matter what Father-in-Law said, she was clearly hopeless! If she would not even dress properly, what hope was there for the rest of her manners? The outfit from dinner the other not had barely been suitable attire. Now that they had more time, she could finally make the bratty child in front of her dress like a lady! But the child was so adamant and dogmatic about her apparel that she refused to wear almost everything. How dare she!

Traditional clothing from various countries lay strewn across the floor. There was everything from robes to the kimonos of princesses to ball gowns. Makeup boxes filled with only brand name lipsticks, eyeliners, and eye shadows had been emptied, and the girl wearing the makeup was ruining the whole point of it by grimacing at every outfit offered to her! If she was going to grimace like that, it totally ruined the effect of the makeup! What an ugly girl.

How could Father-in-Law and Silva even consider this little horror? Kikyou gritted her teeth as she applied another layer of lipstick. The girl was still objecting to almost every outfit she and Kalluto suggested to her! And each and every one of them was made of the finest quality! How spoiled could a child be?

"I'm not gonna wear that!" Lucy complained loudly as a butler handed her a gorgeous gown. It was simply extravagant, adorned with hand-sewn scarlet roses, one of Kikyou's favorites.

The butler put the gown away and picked out something else. Kalluto was quietly observing the scene, as usual. Ah, her wonderful Kalluto. One day, Kalluto would be a great assassin. She could just tell. He was already so adept at analyzing his surroundings, and his appearance was so deceiving. He looked beautiful wearing anything at all, and he had splendid etiquette! If only this worthless girl was like Kalluto… Then she might be worthy of Killua. Might.

"Kalluto," Kikyou huffed. "Do you have any extraordinary ideas for making this wench looking presentable?"

Kalluto turned to face her, with his striking amethyst eyes and ebony hair. If only Kalluto had been born a girl! He was such a doll… Kikyou practically started crooning. He was a doll that, once paid an acceptable price, would slaughter anyone. How wonderful! The idea made her heart flutter. Oh, Kalluto… If only someone like him could be Kil's bride.

"Mother, Mil is watching. Why don't we get his advice too?"

Mil was watching? Kikyou looked around a moment and spotted him eating chips in the corner. She growled to herself. His etiquette was extremely lacking! Simply dreadful. Horrendous. Appalling. His shirt was untucked, his hair was disheveled, and his fat did nothing but bulge out over his pants! Hopefully he wasn't already incorrigible… she would have to make serious amends to his atrocious habits. He was almost as bad as the wench in front of her!

But Kalluto… Kalluto was exceptional. Not as much so as Killua though. Killua was just … ineffable! She couldn't find the words to describe someone like him… He was nothing short of overwhelming…

"Outstanding, Kalluto!" Kikyou sung, fanning herself. In any case, Kalluto had impressive observational skills to notice Mil! "You might become as good as an assassin as Killua in the future!"

* * *

Milluki watched the scene in front of him in great interest. His mother was a the stereotypical fashionable queen-type personality, Kalluto was the icy-cold stereotype, and the auburn-haired girl was the tsundere stereotype! What? You don't understand his fascination?

Well, let's start here:

Tsundere – (n.) A Japanese character that is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing her warm side over time.

And Milluki couldn't help it… It wasn't every day that he got to meet a tsundere in real life, considering he hadn't left the house for years. This was juicy data! He needed to watch closely… After all, testing out his in-game dating sim situations in real life was the ultimate dream of any true otaku! And from what Zeno had told him, that girl was a potential fiancée for Kil. Not only that, but they were to remain ignorant of the fiancé/fiancée thing for the moment because Zeno wanted to observe how they normally acted together! That made the situation even more perfect!

It was a situation right out of one of his games! Milluki shoved more chips in his mouth. Intriguing. Too intriguing. He couldn't resist. This couldn't be more ideal!

So naturally, he couldn't possibly miss such a chance. And thus, he was prepared for the situation at hand. If the tsundere girl objected to all of his mother's wardrobe, then maybe he could make her wear some of his own selection! And no, that didn't mean guy clothes. As a true otaku, he had collected all the cosplaying materials of various heroines in his favorite animes… What luck! This girl could do the cosplaying for him.

Lucy… that was her name, right? Milluka stuffed another handful of chips into his already-full mouth. "Mommy," he said, "I have some clothes that Lucy can try on too."

His mother whirled around in her huge yellow gown. "Oh Mil, this is wonderful! You're finally showing some interest for the good of the family!"

…The good of the family?

Oh. She have meant that he was helping them try to beautify the girl. Well, that worked out just fine. Maybe, with this, Mommy would recognize that he was a better future head of the family than Killua! Just imagine how many games and action figures and cosplaying stuff he could buy with the family fortune… Of course, he would still carry on the family legacy of assassination. That was important too.

In any case, a servant now walked in with Milluki's rack of outfits. Lucy walked over to them, browsing curiously. Milluki carefully noted each of her facial expressions. Tsunderes were so interesting. Whenever she saw an outfit that was a bit lewd, she would blush slightly and flip through them faster. Heh. He wondered what she was thinking about when she started blushing.

"These, at least, look better than the rest of my options," she eventually said. "However, I'm not here to satisfy your perverted fantasies, you Deep Fat Fried Balloon."

Deep Fat Fried Balloon?

How dare she call him that! That insolent little…

Wait.

She even insulted people like a tsundere! Amazing!

* * *

About half an hour later, Lucy ended up wearing a blue and red sailor scout uniform with her hair styled like Sailor Moon's. To complete the attire, he had even given her a black cat plushie to hold with a crescent moon on its forehead. The girl looked at it with a troubled expression… Heh. Milluki wanted to see what Killua would do if he saw Lucy dressed like this. Milluki nodded approvingly. Yes, yes, it had certainly turned out quite while… not to mention that his mother was cooing about the extravagance and originality of the hairstyle.

And, right on cue, Killua walked into the room. He was staring at the floor, and he slammed the door behind him. Milluki smirked, wondering what Killua was angry about. Normally, he would most certainly have started taunting the smart-alecky midget about it, but this time, it was more to his benefit to watch Killua's reaction.

As if to further prove Milluki's point, Killua looked up, saw Lucy, turned around, and walked back out. Lucy, on the other hand, was turning pinker by the second. Just like any other tsundere, she sure seemed to be pretty shy. The only thing he had missed in the scene was Killua's expression when he stomped out. Damn. He'd have to set up some more situations… Milluki wondered how much profit he could make if he made his own dating-sim game based off of her and his brother. He would have to keep observing for awhile longer… So far, his experimenting had clearly resulted in success. Toying with her and his brother would turn out to be incredibly fun.

* * *

Okay, if you haven't noticed, I'm focusing on the otaku-aspect of Milluki's character a little bit more. Hopefully, you guys aren't going to scream at me that he's OOC... oh well. I like him this way.

Right now I'm attempting to imagine Lucy dressed as Sailor Moon. I'll have to draw it sometime.

I still need to draw Feitan with Pippy Long-stocking's hairstyle.

I have sooo much work to get done and not enough time to do all of it D;

My midterms start soon, so don't expect an update next week. I'll be cramming /3

-thinks of random question-

Excluding Gon, Killua, Kurapica, and Leorio, who is your favorite HxH character?

HinekaSanako drew Lucy for me~ Check my profile for her drawing! It's so cute xD


	31. Zaoldyeck House: Day 3

I'm so sorry for the late update. I'm wayyyy behind on things I have to do. I have a ton of art projects to finish, and they're mostly my own fault. I'll try to write the next chapter a little faster! D;

But yeah, anyways, I had sudden motivation to write after I got a certain flame. I sorta went into rebel mode... I suppose that was a good thing? O_o...

Thanks to all of you who wrote reviews/alerted this story/favorited this story~

I really need to start having my chapters beta'ed. But I feel like I'm updating so slowly that I don't have time to... (not to mention that I haven't replied to my beta'er's messages in awhile... Sorry!)

/makes more excuses.

/gets told to stop whining.

Anyways, on with the chapter~

* * *

**Summer x Fate x Training**

_The cool water had already soaked his clothes, but it felt good. It would probably rain soon – there was quite a bit of humidity – but right now, it was a cloudless day, the sun high in the sky. Before this, he had spent some time helping his mother tend to their book store. Although he enjoyed reading the books (which was what he usually did while working), taking a break was always fun, especially when it was with Fijiminah and Ryka. _

"_Kura-chan, have you ever tried wiggling your toes in the sand?" Ryka asked. Her blonde hair, soaked with water, had turned a light brown. It was matted across her face, but her dark blue eyes were still visible. She smiled happily. "It feels so weird!"_

"_Wiggling my toes in the sand?" Kurapica asked._

"_Yeah! You should try it!"_

"_What? Why would he do something like that? That's sooo lame," Fijiminah complained. He was Ryka's twin brother, but his hair wasn't as blond as most of the other Kurutas'. His hair was a bit sandier, although his eyes were probably more cerulean than anyone else's as well. His skin was a bit tanner as well. "It's much more fun to try and catch the fish with your hands!"_

"_Nu uh! No it's not!" Ryka objected. _

"_Yes, it is!"_

"_No, it's not!"_

"_Yes it is!"_

"_No, it's not!"_

"_It soooooooo is!"_

"_C'mon Kura-chan! At least try it! Fiji is stupid!"_

"_What? I am not!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_Are not!"_

"_Are too!"_

_Kurapica laughed. Fijiminah was just teasing Ryka. He could see Fijiminah wiggling his toes in the sand as he argued with Ryka. And later on, Ryka would probably ask him about how to catch fish with her hands too. They were so silly._

"_What are you laughing at?" the both of them exclaimed simultaneously. Sometimes they would do that. Normally, they'd be total opposites, but sometimes, it was just so obvious that they were twins._

"_Nothing, really," Kurapica replied. The three of them continued to play until their parents called them in. That summer, the summer of eight years ago, was probably one of the best of his life. It was also the last one before the wheels of their fate started turning. Just a few weeks after that, as a cooler autumn breeze came on and the leaves blew gently in the breeze, Ryka grew ill._

Kurapica watched Gon trying to make Leorio try some odd concoction that he'd cooked up. Gon was pouting because Leorio was desperately trying to refuse the dish in the politest way possible. Kurapica wondered if the times now were, like before, a prelude for what was to come.

* * *

Why did Killua live in such an impractically-sized house? No matter how good she was navigationally, there were way too many hallways and corridors in this stupid place. Not to mention that there was also a locked steel door every twenty feet or so. She had already been ambling around for quite some time, trying to get to know the place.

The décor of the mansion was clearly of Feitan's taste, complete with torches, chains, and even an emblem of some sort of crow clutching a flower – a red spider lily. Even though the flames in the torches crackled with heat, the mansion was still chilly… Lucy had pulled a sweater over her top to keep herself warm. She had long since changed out of that outfit the Deep Fat Fried Balloon had made her wear, and there was no way she was going to dress up for the Zaoldyecks. Her normal clothes would do just fine, thank you very much.

In a way, this house was so lonely. Maybe the Spiders never lived in such a big place, but whenever she was with them, it wasn't nearly as… as… as isolated, she supposed. She could already tell from the battle Killua had had with Illumi – the Zaoldyecks weren't a close family. Not like her and the Spiders.

Why was her family so much more tight-knit than Killua's? Even though they were blood-related, and the Spiders were just a bunch of misfits from who-knew-where and didn't have a drop of common blood in their veins, save for her and Shalnark. She wondered if she could refer to them as "family" in any other meaning than those related by blood.

And for that matter, she still didn't understand why Killua acted the way he did. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand. They had come all this way to get him, but he didn't want to come with them. Why? Was he not happy to see her?

Somehow, that bothered her.

Lucy walked a bit further down the hall, and turned a corner. There was only one door at the end, and she wondered if she could open it. It didn't seem to have an uncountable number of locks on it or anything, so it wouldn't hurt to try. Curiously, she made her way towards it.

But either way, Killua had said something about a "reason" why he'd left. She'd replied that it was a stupid one… the only reason she could think of was that he felt that he couldn't escape his fate as a Zaoldyeck. Killua didn't have to conform to what his family wanted. It was odd to her, the idea of being afraid of one's own family, but she could see it in him. He was afraid of his older brother, and probably his father as well. That was clearly evident. That was what was stopping him from running away again, right?And in her opinion, that certainly was a stupid reason. After all, a person's "fate" was the result of their decisions. If you didn't like your current fate, then you could do something about it. Change it. The only thing set in stone is that one day, you will die.

That was what the people of Meteor City had done. They hadn't liked what the government had done to Durham Jets. They didn't want to face a fate where people kept oppressing them like that. And so, they had shown the government that no, they couldn't do that. The people of Meteor City could stand up for themselves, and they wouldn't take that kind of treatment. Even though it cost thirty-one people their lives, they had taken the lives of the thirty-one other people who had caused the death of Durham Jets.

And the Spiders as well. When the government tried to get rid of the people of Meteor City once and for all, the Spiders did something about it. Again, the Spiders showed the government not to mess with the people of Meteor City. That was when the Spiders first became known as the notorious group that people saw them as today.

You could fight your fate. You really could. If you chose to succumb to a fate that you didn't like, that was still a fate you created yourself because you chose not to do anything. If you wanted to think everything was predestined, then maybe you were predestined to fight back. But doing nothing would change nothing. No matter how impossible it seemed, you could change things. Little, by little, by little.

…

Or, of course, you could be like the people of Meteor City and suicide bomb a bunch of people. Then it would be changing things in thirty-one big bangs instead of slowly over time.

Killua could fight his fear to overcome it.

…Still, that was easier said than done.

Just as she thought that, she reached the door and grabbed the door knob. Not surprisingly, the metal was cold to her touch, but it was also kind of… greasy. And that was a bit… disgusting. She opened the door anyways.

And that was how she found herself staring at a wall of figurines and about five computers. The figurines lined the walls in multiple shelves… there were an incredible number of them. She recognized a few of the characters from some of the weird shows Phinks and Ubou watched. There was a girl with long pink hair, wearing a devil hat named… Lala? And then there was a girl with short brown hair called Ellie, and a warrior girl named Erza. She also saw a girl she recognized as… was it Eve or Yami? Either way, there were an incredible number of dolls in the room. Maybe, if she managed to steal some, she could use them to distract Phinks and Ubou while they were being annoying. Or maybe she could use them to bribe them into doing something for her. A small grin spread across Lucy's face as she considered several ways she could steal some of the dolls. She'd worry about that later though.

Besides the dolls, there were also numerous bags of chips lying around, not to mention a large pile of video games thrown in a corner. Despite the slobby atmosphere of the place though, it was much warmer than the hallway she had been in previously.

"What do you want?" an irritated voice asked her.

Oh. Lucy glanced towards the speaker. So this was the Deep Fat Fried Balloon's room. Woohoo. She decided to ignore him and see if that aggravated him any.

"If you don't want anything, then get out," the Deep Fat Fried Balloon said. Lucy could tell he was talking with his mouth full of half-chewed potato chips. His hair was so oily that he probably hadn't taken a shower in weeks, and his shirt was only half tucked in. Even though he was talking to her, he continued to stare at his computer screens and clack away at multiple keyboards at once.

…(But his hygiene was still better than Ubou's, so it couldn't really be that bad right?)

"I said, 'Get out,'" he repeated, almost growling. He still hadn't turned around to even glance at her though.

Suddenly, Lucy had an impulse to annoy Milluki further. "Nah, I don't feel like it," she replied.

"Oh?" Milluki said. This time, after clicking a few more things, he turned around. "I thought you were Kil or something."

"Hmph, of course I'm not. We're_ nothing_ alike."

A creepy smirk that reminded Lucy mildly of Hisoka crept its way onto Milluki's pudgy pig face. Lucy found herself not wanting to know what he was thinking at that moment.

But she would find out anyways.

"Nothing, eh?" he asked, shoving more chips into his mouth.

"Obviously," Lucy continued, but now she was only feigning confidence because she wasn't sure what was going on in Milluki's head.

"So," Milluki began, completely changing the subject but the Hisoka smirk growing ever wider on his face, making his cheeks puff out like a chipmunk's, "what would you do if you and Killua were at the hot springs and he accidentally walked into the women's bath while you were in it?"

It took Lucy a moment to process what Milluki had asked. If Killua walked in on her while she was in the hot springs… then… then… then…wait. Oh my gosh, this disgusting, flubbery-excuse-for-a-human-being had just tricked her into imagining that! "Wha-what the heck?" she demanded. "You're not just a Deep Fat Fried Balloon; you're sick-minded too!"

"Heh," Milluki said confidently. "But considering that you're the one with the red face at the moment, I'd say that you're the one who was imagining it. Doesn't that make you more sick-minded than me?"

Lucy opened her mouth to say something but found herself with nothing to say.

"Oh, and, I forgot to mention that if you don't pay me seventy thousand zeni right now, I'll tell Killua that you imagined that."

"Y-you don't even have any proof!"

"I'm sure I can make some."

"What the heck is wrong with y—" Lucy started but didn't finish. She hadn't noticed him at all, but Zeno had walked into the room.

"Follow me to the training chambers," he said. "Yes, Mil, that means you too."

Milluki groaned but eventually followed. Lucy also followed, although she couldn't help but wonder what kind of "training" it was, or why the Zaoldyecks would bother to train her for that matter. She didn't want to spend too much time pondering it though – she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. More than anything, she needed to get stronger, and the Zaoldyecks were known for their strength… even amongst the Spiders.

* * *

I can't wait for summer vacation. I need it badly... then I'm gonna draw, draw, write, draw, draw, draw, write, write, draw, draw, write, draw, draw, draw, and write! =D

Anyways, I drew a picture of Lucy on my tablet~ It's my new profile picture xD You can check my profile for the link for the full view on my DA. My style has changed a bit though... ^^;...

Umm what else did I have to say...

*can't remember*

...

**Well, so far what do you guys think of my version of the Zaoldyeck arc?** =3

I hope it's okay ^^;

And you should all read JoyPurple13's story, The Lost Night! It's really awesome~ I think it's better than mine! D; *slightly jealous*

Review please~


	32. Zaoldyeck House: First Week

Yay! I wrote a longer chapter~ =3

So I just got myself the new Pokemon game. I'll probably be addicted to that for a little while. *sigh*

/ / gaming will be the end of me.

On the origins of Fijiminah's name: KiGaMi typed random letters (Fjmnh), and we gave it a pronunciation! =D

Anyways~

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited/etc~ xD

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

CookieKrisp has informed me that this chapter is slightly awkward. Oh well.

* * *

**Torture x Control x Father**

Training with Milluki was… interesting, simply said.

Basically, it consisted of Zeno face palming and Milluki sweating an ocean. Eventually, Zeno decided that Milluki was a useless training partner and that Lucy should spar with one of Milluki's robots for the rest of the day. Milluki whined that he didn't want his robot broken, but Zeno ignored him and basically told him that he needed to grow up.

As Lucy fought the robot, Zeno commented, "Those materialized claws of yours are rather inefficient, are they not?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. They worked just fine for her.

"Do they have any special abilities?"

"…No, not yet."

"Then they're not that much different than normal weapons," Zeno said, stroking his beard. "Furthermore, the shape of them could use some refining."

Again, Lucy asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Zeno said thoughtfully, "if that design is what works best for you, then I won't argue, but those claws of yours can only stab and make shallow slashing wounds."

Lucy thought about it for a moment. Although his comments annoyed her a bit, Zeno did have a point. As a Zaoldyeck, he was someone worth listening to. Shalnark had seemed surprised when he had first seen her claws – that was probably why. Their design was hardly strategic.

"How do you suggest that I improve it then?"

"Hmm…" Zeno said, stroking his beard. "Well, a similar design would probably be good, since you're already used to using those. Milluki can help you think something up later."

Zeno was just evaluating her abilities on the first day.

* * *

The second day was what brought the horror. Zeno was no longer the one training her; now, it was Kikyou.

At first, it wasn't anything too bad.

But now it was different.

It was just as bad as going through Feitan's torture, but with one difference: Feitan would eventually let you die.

The Zaoldyecks didn't.

Agony.

She didn't know how else to describe it.

She couldn't even think anymore. The only thing that went through her mind was the pain.

It seared through her veins; it wouldn't stop. It was like a thousand nails had been hammered into her skin. It was like she was being slashed apart from the inside out. It was like she was being burned alive in a body that couldn't die.

It was like being surrounded by flames, each of them licking at her skin. It was like being trapped in a burning box with no escape. No matter where she touched, it was hot, it burned her. She had nowhere to go. All she could do was let the flames devour her skin.

But there was no fire. No – there was just her, the chains, and the Zaoldyecks.

They wanted her to endure it.

She wanted to escape, to be free from this terrible suffering. But the chains, they held her back.

How had Killua lived this way?

How could Killua have grown up, so many years, tortured like this?

How could he still smile, still laugh, still have fun?

How?

Her whole body throbbed. She wouldn't be surprised if every bone in her body was broken, every muscle torn.

No.

It was more like every bone was shattered, every muscle shredded.

It was unbearable.

She wanted to scream, to writhe, to make it stop. But she couldn't scream anymore, she couldn't move – the only thing she could feel in her body was the torment of crows, eating her still-living corpse, she couldn't even keel over to make it stop.

When would it end?

But she needed to get stronger.

* * *

Killua gritted his teeth in an attempt to control his anger. One of the biggest mistakes he could possibly make would be to let his emotions get the better of him. He couldn't let that happen.

Still, he wanted to slam his fist against the wall so hard his knuckles would bleed. Of all the things, he hadn't wanted her to have to live through what he had. In fact, he wouldn't want _anyone_ to have to go through it.

"Dammit," Killua cursed, fighting the urge to say something worse. For just that moment, he loosened his grip on his emotions and flung one of his pillows against the wall. The pillow exploded.

Killua found himself breathing heavily.

The feathers of the pillow slowly drifted to the ground.

God damn it.

He needed to calm down. He'd never be able to get anything done if he was letting himself be ruled by his anger. He needed to think rationally in order to do something about the Zaoldyeck-style training that Lucy was going through.

Flopping down on his bed, Killua covered his eyes with his hand in an attempt to get his thoughts straight. There was too much going on in his head at the moment, not to mention that he was letting himself be blinded with rage. Killua took a deep breath.

Alright, so he needed to figure out how to stop his family from training Lucy anymore.

One of the best ways to make someone stop was to figure out why they were doing it in the first place, right?

…

Tch.

That question was only making him realize just revealing more unanswered questions to him.

In the first place, why had his family let Lucy in to the main house but not Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio?

What were their intentions?

And why would they even bother training her?

Killua wondered if all of his questions had the same answer. Probably – they did certainly seem to lead back to a similar point. But in any case, there was definitely something his family hadn't told him.

Time to find out.

* * *

_Autumn was setting in, and the temperatures had dropped a bit. The trees' leaves fell gracefully to the ground, and the salamanders were gradually going into hibernation. A soft breeze rustled what leaves were left in the trees, and a few birds sung. There were some kids laughing in the distance, but they were too far away; Kurapica couldn't see them from where he was. They were probably playing in the fields or something._

_He, Fijiminah, and Ryka were playing in the forest, trying to figure out which herbs could heal and which were poisonous. Or rather, Fijiminah and Ryka were pointing out herbs and giving their best guesses as to whether or not they were poisonous, and Kurapica was telling them whether they were right or wrong._

_Even so, Kurapica was dictating the answers rather absent-mindedly. That day, Ryka had tied her hair up in cute pink ribbons. Kurapica had spent quite a bit of time opening his mouth to tell her that her hair looked nice that way and closing it again without saying anything. He kind of wanted to compliment them, but at the same time, he didn't. Fijiminah would probably make fun of him or something if he did. It was confusing._

_Normally, the three of them would have played tag or something, but the Ryka had had a bit of a cold lately. She had been coughing a bit, so her father had said not to do anything too strenuous. It was okay though. It wasn't anything serious. Just a common cold._

"_Kura-chan," Ryka said, looking at a red flower, "what about this one?"_

"_Umm…" Kurapica said, "that one's poisonous."_

"_Eh?" Ryka asked. "But it's so beautiful._

_Beautiful, yes, but appearances could be deceiving. This flower, so delicate, so intricate, so elegant, was one that could do quite a bit of harm to a person. "In one of the textbooks in our library, they called it _Lycoris radiata_. I don't know its common name though," he told her._

"_Hmm…" she said thoughtfully, seeming slightly troubled by the fact that her pretty flower could hurt anyone._

"_No one cares about that stupid flower anymore," Fijiminah said coldly. "C'mon already."_

* * *

Kurapica had been awfully spaced out for the past few days. Leorio couldn't help but wonder if Kurapica was getting enough sleep or something.

Oh, but wait.

Maybe the cause of his absent-mindedness was not illness. Maybe… he was lovesick?

But for who?

Leorio stroked his stubby beard thoughtfully, wondering if he should investigate.

"Ahem."

Leorio, shaken from his thoughts, looked up to see Gon staring at him with his big brown eyes and Kurapica looking slightly disgusted.

"Would you stop that creepy chuckling?" Kurapica continued. "With that perverted look on your face, you remind me of Hisoka."

"Oi! What the hell?" Leorio objected, suddenly embarrassed. He hadn't even realized that he had been chuckling, and what was this business about a "perverted look" on his face?

"Hmm…" Gon said, looking Leorio up and down. "He certainly did sound like Hisoka!"

"You too, Gon?" Leorio shouted incredulously. Even Gon was against him today!

"Well, it's true," Gon said matter-of-factly. "You sounded sort of like…umm…" Gon paused for a moment. "Kehehehehehehehehehe…"

…

(Awkward silence).

Both Leorio and Kurapica both looked as if they had just heard the most traumatizing thing of their entire lives. Gon's Leorio-Hisoka-laugh impersonation was probably the freakiest thing he would EVER hear. It undoubtedly beat any horror movie hands down.

"_Never _do that again, Gon!" Kurapica finally said after a minute or two of shock. He looked almost like he was gagging.

"Eh?" Gon asked innocently. "Why not?"

"…Just don't," Leorio said grimly.

"And I thought I did such a good job of copying it too!"

"You did," Kurapica said bluntly. "Just don't do it again."

"Aww…" Gon pouted. "That's too bad."

* * *

Killua knocked on the door to his father's room. Even though they were married, his parents didn't share a room. Rather, if they did, Killua suspected that the room would have such a terrible amount of frills and lace in it that it would make him gag to see his father in it. But that was beside the point.

"Killua? Come in," his father said, in his cold voice. Killua knew that he already knew who had knocked on his door, but he did have to show enough respect for his father to knock.

Killua opened the one of the creaking double doors and slid into the room.

Killua glanced up for a second to meet his father's eyes before returning his gaze to the floor. For some reason, his father always intimidated him. He eyes were always emotionless, merciless, ruthless. He was so much stronger…

"Killua, how long are you going to stand there?" he asked. "Have a seat."

His voice was as cold as his eyes. Killua glanced towards him again, this time keeping his gaze but still lowering his head. "Okay," Killua said, nodding nervously.

"I heard you made friends."

"…Yeah."

The atmosphere in the room was stiff, awkward. It wasn't a conversation between a parent and a child. It was far more like a supervisor and the supervised.

"What kind of people are they?"

"What kind…" Killua said, pausing for a moment. He had to answer his father's questions truthfully. There was no point in lying. "…The kind I enjoy being with."

"I see."

Killua's hands shook slightly as he gripped his knees.

He was afraid of asking his father about Lucy. Terrified even.

But he needed answers.

"Why…" Killua began, moving his mouth wordlessly. No, those weren't the words he wanted. "What makes Lucy different from my other friends? Why did you let her into the house and not the rest of them?"

His father almost seemed to raise an eyebrow at that question. "She's a girl," he said simply.

If it was anyone else, Killua would have asked what that had to do with anything, but this was his father, so he just looked at him as if asking him to clarify.

"We need someone to carry on the family line."

Killua wanted to scream, "WHAT THE HELL?" but again, this was his father he was speaking to. Screaming such a thing would be disastrous. He had to stay in control. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't let his feelings show. Calm down. Take a deep breath. Keep cool. He could think about what his father had actually proposed later. "…Why her?" Killua quietly asked.

"There haven't been any other good candidates for your fiancée in the last few years, and her upbringing makes her one of the best the candidate."

Killua looked up at him anxiously.

"Don't worry; it's only potential, especially with what you said as you left the house before."

Killua nodded.

Changing the subject, his father asked, "How was the Hunter Exam?"

"Really easy."

"You said your future is up to you, so you left. Isn't that right?"

Killua nodded again, biting his lip.

"So you tried the Hunter Exam."

The fire crackled in the background.

"Truthfully, I don't want to be a Hunter," Killua said.

"That's fine. But Illumi told me that you don't want to kill anymore. You've had enough with it, right? Why?"

Killua stayed silent.

"Choosing you from your five brothers as my heir was my own choice. Even now, I don't think my decision was wrong. Killua, are you serious about not continuing as an assassin?"

"How should I put this?" Killua said thoughtfully. His father was reacting differently than he expected… Killua wasn't sure how to respond. "At first, I thought I'd be suited for it."

"You thought so?"

"The assassination training and the actual work…" Killua was rambling again. Saying more than he wanted to. Saying too much. "From the beginning, I wanted the hunter exam to be a game. But, after accompanying Gon and the others for awhile, I slowly realized that being with them is a lot more fun than work itself."

Killua stopped and looked towards his father. What if his father wanted to kill Gon for this?

"I won't do anything to your friends."

Killua relaxed a bit.

"When I told Gon I was from an assassin clan, not only did he not look surprised, he also said some unbelievable things. And then, when I first told Lucy, she completely disregarded it and asked something really weird. The second time I told her, which was when I was with Gon, she just fell asleep! Neither of them is your typical person. As long as I was with them, it was never boring." Killua found himself smiling a bit. "That kind of person… they're the first that I've met."

"Did you know?" his father asked. "I haven't seen you smile in a long time."

His father's expression was odd. It was different than usual. It looked almost… sincere.

"Killua, come here. I want to hear more from you. What the test was like, the people you met, how you felt. You can tell me everything. Let me hear it, Killua."

* * *

Once Killua had started talking, he hadn't stopped. He kept rambling and rambling. Every once in awhile, his father would ask a question or two about Gon or Lucy. He didn't seem to be paying too much attention to the other two. It was kinda weird though.

This time, talking to his father had actually been somewhat… fun?

Killua wondered if that was how fathers and sons were supposed to talk.

And then, as he walked down the hallway back to his own room, he remembered the original purpose of the visit and the answers he had gotten.

Oh. God.

The reason his parents had let Lucy into the house was because she was a potential fiancée for him?

Well, at least she didn't know that. Thankfully.

He didn't even have to look in a mirror to know that his face had flushed a brighter shade of red than ever before.

* * *

I wasn't sure how I could describe Zaoldyeck torture, so I was vague with what was actually happening. It seems to me as if I would either end up being too grotesque if I was properly brutal, and not brutal enough if I was anything else. So I decided to take this approach. I hope it came out okay ^^;

I remember that when I watched the anime for the part where Killua talked to Silva, I thought it was kind of odd. I never really could tell how sincere Silva really was. At first I thought he was sincere, but then, what he said as Killua left made me rethink that. So, in the end, I don't really know D; What's your opinion on the matter?

Also, as you can see, I've switched the events up a bit. Killua talking to his father happens a lot earlier in my story than it does in the anime/manga. S'okay though, I guess xD

I did some editing on the first three chapters. If you want, you can check them out and leave me your opinion on them xD

I didn't change the plot or anything, but I added things here and there. I want to do some editing on some of the other chapters as well, but I don't know how much better I can make them. *sigh*

On a better note, KiGaMi made me a fanclub on DeviantArt~ *sparkly eyes* I feel loved. Lol =3

And now, just because I'm curious...

How close do you think Lucy is with Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio?

And how is my new summary?


	33. Zaoldyeck House: Second Week Part 1

Yay~ I found some time to write this chapter =D

(Or rather, I'm supposed to be doing my homework right now... ^^;...)

Anyways, I feel like this chapter is kinda deep~ I hope you guys like it =D

Thanks to anyone who favorited/alerted/reviewed~

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

**

* * *

Precious x Control x Water**

_He may have had eyes that made her feel as if she was staring into a dark endless abyss, and to some, he may have seemed like an emotionless demon._

_But to her, he would never be such a thing. _

_One day, he told her, "What's important is not the life of a single part of the Spider. What's important is whether the Spider, as a whole, lives or dies."_

_She nodded silently and thought for a moment. "What if there's one part of the Spider that could take the rest of it with it?" she asked._

"_The Spider is only as weak as it allows itself to be."_

She could feel her lungs heaving, and her vision was fogged. It had only been a few days, but each day felt like a year. Her head pounded, her limbs ached. She didn't know what kind of poison they had given her, but whatever it was, it was fairly strong. It had muddled her brain, made her limbs feel as flimsy as a rag doll's. They hadn't even given her a large dosage of it. She had thought there was no real point in giving her poison resistance training unless they had years to do it, but apparently they had also given her a drug to increase the resistance she gained as well.

And then, there were the electric shocks. They had given her those and the poisons separately. The electric shocks had only taken up one day, whereas the poison had been spread out over many. They were pushing her to her limits; training as much as possible in what little time they had.

How many times had they sent the currents through her veins in that single day? Each time, it had been as if she had been struck by a lightning bolt; for that one moment that her body shone bright with electricity, she could see nothing, thinking nothing, feeling nothing but the electricity racing through her body, ravaging through every inch of her, leaving nothing spared.

"_Machi," she asked, "the Spider won't ever die, right?"_

"_Not as long as it remains strong," Machi replied. "And it will be strong as long as it holds nothing precious."_

"'_Holds nothing precious?'"_

"_That which is precious to you is that which controls you."_

She had realized it before - this was the agony Killua had suffered his entire life.

She went through with this because she didn't want to be the weight, the weight that held them back.

But somehow, she doubted that Killua had had any such reasons. It didn't take a genius to see – the Zaoldyecks were a lonely family. Through their profession, they had isolated themselves from the world, and through their treatment of one another, they had isolated themselves from each other.

Even though the Spiders didn't have anyone else, they had each other. And each other mattered more than anything.

The Zaoldyecks weren't like that. She had seen how Illumi had treated Killua. Illumi had seen him as nothing more than an emotionless doll; a doll created for one purpose: murder.

"_Then," she asked, "is it bad to hold something precious?"_

"…_No, not necessarily," Machi eventually answered. Machi's eyes stared off into the distance. Luelle couldn't tell whether she was speaking to her, or, perhaps, speaking to herself._

"_Why's that?"_

"_You come to love more than just yourself; you learn to place other things, other people, before you. And sometimes, that is for the best."_

And anything that got in the way of that purpose was a weakness, anything held dear. It was to be eradicated immediately.

She didn't understand how he could have lived this way, what his life had been like.

She wished that the Spiders could have, at some point, kidnapped him. And then, the two of them would have grown up together. He wouldn't have had to go through this. He wouldn't have had to live with such a burden.

Things could have been different.

But that was just a dream, a fantasy; Lucy knew it couldn't have really happened.

"Hmm…" Lucy heard a voice say from the other side of the room. She hazily felt the presence of someone else with him. "Alright, Kikyou, that's enough."

"What? Why father?" Kikyou exclaimed loudly. "We've barely spent half a week doing any sort of training at all!"

"Calm down, Kikyou," he replied. "It's not as if we're finished with her training."

KIkyou was silent, as if waiting for him to explain.

"This servant girl, Canary, shall spar with her. Come, Kikyou. We're leaving."

Kikyou haughtily followed Zeno out the door, and it slammed shut behind them. Lucy was still feeling too groggy to really know what was happening, but she at least registered that the next training she was going through was against that butler, Canary.

"They gave me an opportunity to kill you," Canary said.

Lucy focused her clouded vision on Canary. "So does that mean…" Lucy said carefully, processing what Canary had said, "…death to the loser?"

"Yes."

Lucy doubted that Canary would give her time to recover from whatever she had been drugged with, and anyways, no person in his right mind would ever give his opponent such time. For now, she would have to figure out how to stall long enough to regain herself.

"…Sounds good to me."

* * *

Gon was the only one who hadn't opened the gate so far, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't do certain things at first because of his arm injury. Even though Leorio had been the weakest during the first exam, he had improved significantly since then, and he was even the first one to be able to open one of the gates. Kurapica felt a bit left behind by their growth. Sure, he had also gotten a lot stronger, but they both seemed to surpass him somehow.

From the time they were young, Kurapica, Fijiminah, and Ryka had done everything together. There were, of course, other kids in the village, but the three of them were the closest, age-wise. Kurapica silently let the times they'd spent together pass through his mind. So many years had passed, but his memories of the Kuruta clan were as clear as if they were yesterday.

They hadn't faded. They were still with him.

He could still smell the gentle essence of his mother's cooking wafting from the fire; he could still hear Fijiminah and Ryka's laughter; he could still see the face of each of the tribesmen. Sometimes, he felt as if he was on a boat, slowly drifting on a calm lake. The lake was his memories; under the water was the past. He wanted to reach down into the water, touch it, and let it engulf him, swallow him.

But the second his finger would prick the water, it would return to being nothing but a normal lake.

The past was unreachable. He couldn't turn back Time's hands to go back. Time did favors for no one, choosing only to move forward.

That was then, this was now.

Kurapica closed his eyes, and let himself doze off for awhile. The past was a world that he could only enter in his dreams…

* * *

The training from before had made a big difference; Lucy could feel it through each blow she made and each blow she took. She had adapted to the effects the poison had on her; she could fight, despite them. Yes, she was a lot stronger.

She wouldn't lose.

Canary had activated her nen ability and was shooting balls of nen from her cane – an emission user. It was a pathetic imitation of Franklin's bullets.

"_You're a Spider," Kuroro said. "A spider waits for its prey, waits for it to be caught in its web. And then, after watching it suffer as it tries to escape, the spider kills it."_

Yes – for now, she would enjoy the battle; savor it. This room was her web, and Canary was her prey.

When the time was right, she'd kill her.

* * *

In the current situation, he was helpless. Utterly helpless.

Killua couldn't fight his family's decision to train Lucy, and the whole potential engagement thing had to be the most outrageous thing he'd ever heard. His emotions were a wreck – infuriation, frustration, and embarrassment. There was no way in hell that he'd ever let Lucy find out about the engagement.

He didn't want his family to do to Lucy what they had done to him. He didn't want them trying to not only his future, but also hers.

Staring at his hand, he thought of when he had first met her in front of the bulletin board while they were looking for the ship to Dole. She had texted her brother the weird writing. And then, he thought of how they'd gone through pretty much the entire exam together. He had spent a lot of time with Gon but probably just as much, if not more, with her. She had always been a bit bratty, a bit spoiled, but he couldn't help but tease her. Man, "dysfunctional taste buds?"

Killua couldn't help but grin for a moment. That was one hell of an insult.

…But would she still be the same after his family's training?

If you weren't strong enough to endure it, it would drive you insane. He knew that. He'd seen it first hand.

…There was also something suspicious about his father's reasoning on the matter of engagement. He had said the reason for it was because she was a girl and his friend, but that didn't make sense.

The Zaoldyecks did not marry their friends – they married to carry on a strong bloodline.

Perhaps he had confided in his dad for the first time, but there were lies.

Lies to manipulate.

Lies to control.

Lies to hide.

Killua shoved his hands in his pockets angrily. Gon, Lucy, Kurapica, and Leorio sure had screwed up his plans in coming here. Tch.

He hadn't seen Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio since they'd come, nor had he heard any news of them since the original news that they were there. He wondered what they were doing. Had Gon's injuries healed yet?

Well, probably not. He'd be a monster if they had. Lucy had given up against Hanzo, but Gon had refused. Lucy's injuries had been bad (and Killua wasn't quite sure how they'd manage to heal themselves between her battle and coming to his house), but Gon's had been far more severe.

Come to think of it though, there were quite a few mysteries surrounding Lucy.

First off, there was how her injuries had healed.

Second, there was why she'd forfeited at that exact moment in the battle against Hanzo. Perhaps he was over thinking it (it certainly seemed to him like he was), but it seemed odd to him that she'd throw in the towel. She was prideful, and since the time she'd first met Hanzo she'd been antagonizing him as if he was weaker than she was. He wondered what it took, exactly, for her to swallow that pride of hers. She hadn't shown any signs of giving up until that last moment when she actually did.

What was it that had been the trigger?

And third, there was her background. He knew she came from a family that killed mercilessly from things she'd said. That was probably the true reason for the "potential engagement". But who exactly were they?

Killua opened the door, and walked out of the room. Questions with no answers only lead to more questions. He needed to clear his head… For now, he'd go train by himself. That way, he could get some time to think.

* * *

Okay~ Now let's see.

Remember that fanclub KiGaMi made me on DeviantArt? We decided to hold a contest there~ There's a link on my profile for the information on it. You can both write and draw entries~ Prizes are mostly drawings from KiGaMi and me =3 You'll have to have an account on DeviantArt to enter though xD

By the way, just wondering, but do you guys like this arc so far? If so, what do you like about? If not, what don't you like about it? My number of reviews has dropped, so I was wondering if it wasn't as good as the Hunter Exam... D;


	34. Zaoldyeck House: Second Week Part 2

The title says it all. I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not you think he's OOC, but I think that Togashi didn't develop him a lot so it's okay.

I hope this chapter isn't awkward. It ended up being more lighthearted than I thought it would be.

I think that in an AU, Gon would make a great puppy, Killua a kitty, Kurapica a dog, and Leorio a rooster. Just putting that out there.

I would have updated sooner except that wouldn't let me log in... T-T

Thanks so much for favorites/reviews/alerts/contest submissions~ =3

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi

* * *

**OOC Zeno ? x Cynthia x Senile**

Gon. Was. Bored.

Kurapica was busy looking overly serious, which worried Gon slightly, but Kurapica didn't want to talk about whatever was wrong. Mito-san said that whenever a person was like that, he should wait for him to come talk to him on his own. Eventually, Kurapica would open up.

Leorio was reading some magazines and giggling creepily from time to time, but he refused to let Gon see whatever he was reading.

Well, Gon supposed he wasn't entirely bored. While Kurapica and Leorio were being "anti-social" as Mito-san called it, he had managed to find a nice bubbling brook on the Zaoldyeck property. Right now, he had a break from training, so he decided to spend his free time fishing. He missed Konta. Sometime, he should bring Killua, Kurapica, Lucy, and Leorio to Whale Island. He wondered what Mito-san and his grandma would think of them. He could also show Mito-san his Hunter License.

Gon wondered what was going on with Killua and Lucy in the main mansion. But in just a little longer, he, Kurapica, and Leorio would also be able to help get Killua. He already had so many stories to tell him about Kurapica and Leorio while they were training!

* * *

The deep red splotches of her and Canary's blood speckled the floor. Neither she nor Canary had a wound deep enough that it would knock her out, but they were both exhausted by now.

Zeno had been right about the shape of her claws, though. At the moment she had to focus on the battle rather than on a better shape for them, but as soon as she had time, she'd have to come up with a new design.

It wouldn't be long before one of them, Canary, fell.

* * *

Killua lay on the ground, watching the puffy white clouds float across the sky. The sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the wind felt nice against his sweaty skin. Training really did work well for releasing one's pent up anger and frustration.

Killua chuckled quietly to himself, thinking that if Gon were here, he'd be able to tell him what kind of weather was coming. Gon would definitely be the perfect person to ask when you wanted to know when to put the laundry out. If you asked Kurapica when to put the laundry out, he'd give you some annoying scientific explanation that no one cared about. And if you asked Leorio when to put the laundry out, he'd probably put it out on the day it was raining. Killua snickered.

…Oi. What the hell was he doing, thinking about _laundry_ of all things?

…Whatever.

A few birds flew across the sky, but they were too far away for him to see anymore than a mere shadow of their shape. Birds were weird creatures, but sometimes Killua wished he could fly too. It would be fun! If people could fly, he and Gon could sneak up on Lucy from above and –

"Lucy's training session is almost over."

Killua looked over to see his grandfather standing over him and sat up.

"You can go watch if you want," his grandfather continued. "She's sparring with the butler called Canary."

"Hmph," Killua said stubbornly. "Before that, what the hell is the deal with this potential engagement? I seriously doubt Lucy's family was consulted about it at all."

His grandfather raised his eyebrows and said amusedly, "Yes, you're right about that."

"Then what the hell?"

"I know you're mad that Lucy came here, and I know you're mad about the engagement. Let me tell you a story about this girl I used to know, Cynthia."

Killua had never heard his grandfather mention anyone called "Cynthia" before, so he listened, slightly puzzled.

"Back in the old days when I was as tall as Illumi is now –"

"_Really?_" Killua asked incredulously, cutting his grandfather off. Killua was trying to imagine that… he'd never seen a picture of his grandfather when he was younger. His grandfather as tall as Illumi….

"No."

"…"

"Awfully gullible aren't you?" his grandfather said. "Anyways…"

* * *

_His last mission had been a huge pain in the neck. His target had been a freak that had way too many bodyguards and alarms. Talk about paranoid. Well, it wasn't so much quantity that was the problem as it was quality. The man hadn't just had any old bodyguards; they were all strong fighters. It was awfully troublesome. They'd almost gotten a hit on him._

_And thus, Zeno was enjoying his perch in some tree in the middle of nowhere. There was a big snowcapped mountain on one side of him, and on the other, there was a farm of sorts. He figured no one would notice him up there though… This area was in Padokea, so whenever he finished a mission, he'd usually hang out here before going home. No one had ever noticed him before, so they probably wouldn't notice him now either. _

"_HEY!" a girl shouted. Zeno glanced in her direction. "Yes, you!" she continued, pointing at him._

_Zeno blinked, a bit shocked. Apparently, he had spoken too soon. Zeno wondered what he should do now that someone had seen him. He supposed it wasn't a particularly big deal though."What do you want?" he asked irritably._

_The girl glared at him with her hands on her hips. "You're gonna fall if you sleep up there! So get down!"_

_Well first of all, he'd never be careless enough to let his guard down enough to fall asleep, and second of all, he wouldn't fall even if he did end up sleeping. "Nah," Zeno said nonchalantly. "I won't fall."_

"_Yes you will! Now get down!"_

"_What's your problem?" Zeno asked, wondering if he should kill her to make her shut up. That would be a bit unprofessional though; she wasn't on his hit list._

_A very mysterious wisp of hair that had fallen in the girl's face twitched, as if to show her annoyance. "My problem is that you're up in that tree, and you're gonna crack your head open when you fall! Now GET DOWN!"_

…_Women were way too noisy. He hoped his wife or his children or his daughter-in-law would never be quite so obnoxious. Like a cat hopping down from a fence, Zeno jumped out of the tree. "Happy?"_

"_Yes."_

_Good, she shut up._

"_Who are you, by the way?" she asked. "I've never seen you around these parts before."_

…_He'd spoken too soon again. He definitely needed to learn not to make assumptions too early. "Zeno Zaoldyeck," he answered truthfully, hoping that his name would scare her off._

"_That's such a weird name!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm Cynthia. Nice to meet you."_

…_Did she not know who the Zaoldyecks were? Well, this was an awfully rural place… Just how isolated was it anyways? "Nice to meet you too," Zeno said carefully, feeling very confused._

_Cynthia smiled, and joyously waved him off when decided to leave right after that._

* * *

"Pfft," Killua said. "That's how you acted as a teenager?"

"Everyone goes through adolescence at some point, Kil," Zeno said simply. "After that, I started visiting the farm more often though. Cynthia's reactions were both entirely predictable and entirely unpredictable at the same time."

Figuring that if she lived in such a rural place she must live on a farm, Killua asked, "Was this Cynthia-girl a farmer or something?" He wanted to add on that she seemed like a dumb old country- bumpkin hag (after all, she must be old now if she was young when Zeno was young) since she didn't even know who the Zaoldyecks were, but then he remembered that Gon didn't know who they were either and decided that she was just naïve.

"Indeed, she was," Zeno answered. And then he continued with his story…

* * *

_The first time Cynthia took Zeno in to meet the farm animals was also the last. They all seemed to love Cynthia, but when they saw Zeno, they were immediately wary. Some of them hissed, some of them lunged at him, some of them ran as far away as possible. _

_And even after the first incident of Cynthia yelling at him for sitting in the tree, Zeno continued to do it anyways, deciding that there were far more annoying things than listening to Cynthia shout. He usually ended up coming down though, saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" as Cynthia continued to scold him loudly._

_Seriously, sitting in a tree was _not_ something a professional assassin considered dangerous._

_One day, though, when Zeno was lounging under the tree, Cynthia stalked up to him. Her expression was odd; a confused mixture of disbelief and anger. In her hand, she held a newspaper… crumpled, torn, and taped back together._

"_The Zaoldyecks…" she started, her voice quavering, "the Zaoldyecks who are assassins… you aren't one of them, are you?"_

_Ah. So his most recent job had been mentioned in the paper. Well, it was some sort of diplomat he had killed after all; it wasn't that surprising._

"_It's not true that you're an assassin is it?" she demanded. Zeno heard her voice crack. _

"_It is."_

_The Zaoldyecks never hid their identity. Never._

"_Y-you're lying, right? Right?"_

"_No," Zeno said, standing up and brushing his pants off. Somewhere in his heart he felt as if he was losing something, but he was a Zaoldyeck. He buried whatever he felt deep in the depths of a frozen ocean._

"_How could you do things like that? Life is something important… Once it's lost, it's gone forever! It's something that's truly beautiful, though, when it still exists… it's something that should be valued, treasured!"_

"_Because I'm a Zaoldyeck," Zeno stated simply. Her eyes were tearing up; Zeno looked at her emotionlessly with his stoic eyes._

"_You're horrible!" she screamed at him. "How could you? Does life mean nothing to you?"_

"_You've got some guts, telling that to an assassin," Zeno said, smirking… but there was a tinge of sadness in his voice that he didn't recognize. Even though he had buried it, it had resurfaced. He turned away from her so that he didn't have to see her face anymore. He could already guess what she was going to say next._

"_I don't ever want to see you again until you stop! Until you promise not to kill anyone anymore!"_

"_Heh," Zeno said. "Fine."_

"_You mean you'll stop?" Cynthia asked, allowing a tiny ray of hope to shine in her voice._

"_Of course not," Zeno said. "I guess this is the last time I'll be seeing you then."_

_Cynthia just stood there, silent tears trickling from her chocolate brown eyes. Zeno didn't have to turn around to know that._

"_Bye."_

_And with that, he left._

_Her world was one where "dangerous" meant sitting in a tree. His world was one where "dangerous" didn't mean getting stabbed, didn't mean breaking a bone, didn't mean getting shot at. His world was one where "dangerous" didn't exist, because it was everywhere. _

* * *

"Oi, are you senile?" Killua asked. He was beginning to wonder if his grandfather, despite the poison resistance training all the Zaoldyecks went through, was high on something.

His grandfather stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps, but that boy, Gon, reminds me of her," he commented. And then, as an afterthought, he added, "Don't think I haven't been keeping an eye on those other friends of yours as well."

"Whatever. Since when were you a romantic old geezer? That's not very Zaoldyeck-like."

"No one is completely immune to romance," his grandfather said. "Sometimes I still wonder what Cynthia is doing now. She moved to some place called… something like 'Fish Island.'"

"You don't stalk that old hag now do you?"

"No, no," his grandfather said nonchalantly as he turned around and walked off. "Now go see that girl, Lucy."

Killua stood there for a moment to get his thoughts straight, thinking that that was the most uncharacteristic conversation a Zaoldyeck could possibly have. And then, he ran back to the house to go find Lucy.

* * *

Zeno had acted all sentimental to Killua about Cynthia, but there was something he'd carefully brushed over: In the end, he chose to remain an assassin. In the end, he'd found out that he couldn't abandon being a Zaoldyeck. In the end, he came back on his own, despite whatever "friendship" he'd had.

For now, Killua could have his "friendship." But one day, he believed, Killua would do the same as he.

Because Killua was also a Zaoldyeck.

* * *

Yayyyyyy! Now that I've put some mighty strange ideas in your head...

Cynthia is NOT Mito (but yes, she is a canon character).

So now you can be traumatized figuring out who she really is. And from my knowledge, she doesn't have a name, which is why I slapped a random name onto her. If she does have a name, then her name is now Cynthia anyways. =D

It sounds like foreshadowing at the end of the chapter, but it may or may not be. I haven't decided if I'm going to take the story quite that far yet. It just seems like if I did, it would be long.

That aside, is there any way you guys would like me to draw Lucy? I may or may or may not actually draw her that way (I think I promised to draw Feitan as Pipi Longstocking and Lucy as Sailor Moon awhile back too...) but I'll consider it =3


	35. Zaoldyeck House: 2nd Week 3  3rd Week 1

300+ reviews~ *sparkly eyes*

Thanks so much to all of you! I never thought I'd get this far~

Also, thanks for all the reviews/alerts/favorites/etc~ =3

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi

* * *

**Loss x Secret x Truth**

She couldn't give up.

If she lost this battle, she'd have let her brother, her mother, her village down.

But she was losing.

Canary refused to throw in the towel. She wouldn't let this girl, Lucy, win. This girl who had no conscience about killing other people, never thought of what she took from other people, killed for fun. She was just a heartless monster. For all the people she'd killed in the past, she deserved to die.

Even if Canary wasn't strong enough to kill the rest of the Spiders, she should at least be able to get rid of this one girl.

And yet, why?

Why couldn't she even take down this one girl?

Canary's eyes welled up with tears of frustration. Her blood, the blood of her family, spilled onto the floor. Some of her wounds were spreading, and the blood flow increasing. But she wouldn't let herself lose to this girl. Not to someone like her.

She didn't deserve to live.

But she had killed so many people important to Canary, so many people who had deserved to live. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she do anything? Why couldn't she change things? Why did things have to be this way?

She hated it. She wanted to do something about it. And she was – she was fighting Lucy to the death.

But if she couldn't win against her, kill her, and get her revenge, that was all meaningless. What was she fighting for? Why did things have to be this way?

Why did everyone have to die?

It hurt so much. Every time she remembered the people she had lost, it felt like her heart was ripping in two. She wanted to be with them. All those times she had spent with them had been too short, too sweet. Those memories tore her apart, those times she wished she could return to.

Those times that no longer existed.

She had never wanted to lose them. She had just wanted to live a normal life with them… Why did she have to suffer like this? Why did this girl, who had surely never lost everything as Canary had, get to live so easily when she had taken everything from her?

How many nights had Canary just asked, "Why, why, why?"

How many mornings had Canary woken up, her pillow soaked with tears?

Canary knew that even if she killed Lucy, no one would come back.

They were gone. Forever.

But at least, if this girl died, she couldn't kill anyone else anymore…

No one else would have to suffer so much because of her.

"_I remember the day before, everything was completely normal. But then, in an instant, everything was gone. Everything. Our family, our friends, our home. Why? Why did it have to be us? Why?"_

Canary remembered Falcon's strained voice as he had cried in frustration. They had never expected it… They had never expected that one day, they would lose everything that was ever important to them, except each other.

But eventually, they lost even that. It was all entirely this girl's fault.

All of it.

Canary swung at her again. Lucy grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground.

"It's over."

* * *

After talking with Zeno, Killua had rushed to find Lucy. He had wanted to find her quickly, so he had even conceded to asking Milluki where she was most likely to be. Milluki, that fat pig, had eventually told him, but such a creepy grin was plastered all over his face the second he saw Killua that Killua felt incredibly repulsed by him and was just dying to leave by the time Milluki actually answered.

Killua threw open the door to the chamber. Breathing heavily, he registered the scene before him.

Canary lay on the ground, bleeding. Judging from the amount of blood around the room, she'd probably lost a significant amount of blood. Her eyes were hazy, tears ran down her face. She was struggling to stand up again, but she was too weak.

Lucy's claws were pointed at her heart.

She didn't even look up to see who had walked into the chamber.

"What the hell are you doing?" Killua demanded. He could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest. Maybe it was partly from how he had run here, but it was mostly from what he was seeing now. Falcon and Canary had been the few people he had really trusted among his family…

Lucy finally glanced at him. Her eyes were cold, but they almost seemed to laugh. "Killing her, of course," she said. Her voice was no different from her eyes… she was enjoying this.

She moved in to stab Canary in the heart.

In an instant, Killua bolted from his current position and grabbed her arm just before her claws pierced Canary's skin.

"Hey! Don't get in my way," Lucy said. "This is our match, not yours. She was the one who proposed the death match."

"No," Killua said obstinately. He wasn't used to seeing Lucy like this. She wasn't the way she normally was… was this what the Zaoldyeck training had done to her, or had she always been like this?

A sharp kick in his shins, knocking him off balance.

"Sorry," Canary said to Killua, before turning back to Lucy. "Die already!" she screamed as she aimed to lunge at her again.

Regaining his balance just in time, Killua stopped her. What was it? What was it that compelled these two to kill each other like this? The last time Lucy had almost killed someone, she'd stopped when Killua had told her to. Canary wasn't someone who went killing others for no reason.

"Let me do it!" Canary shrieked painfully. "She killed my – "

"_Shut up!_" Lucy yelled she tried to attack Canary again. Killua pulled her away, but she elbowed him in the stomach in order to free herself. "_Shut up!_"

He hadn't wanted to, but Killua hit her sharply in the back of her neck.

Lucy had completely lost her composure. Killua had seen Lucy annoyed before, but she'd never yelled like this. This was different.

She collapsed to the floor.

And Canary…

She was crying again… She was a wreck. She wasn't thinking straight anymore. What had happened between these two? What had his family done?

What had happened to make both of them like this?

_T__here was warm blood dripping from his fingers, splattered on his clothes. Who's blood was it again? Oh, that's right. It was Falcon's. Killua's eyes slowly drifted from his blood-soaked hands to the unmoving corpse that lay in front of him._

_Falcon was dead._

"Canary," Killua said, trying to keep his own calm in such a situation, "Stop." He didn't want to think about what would happen if he didn't stop them. "If you want to kill Lucy, you should kill me first."

"No!" Canary screamed. "She's the one who –"

"I was the one who killed Falcon."

Canary froze. She opened her mouth as if she was trying to speak, but no words came out.

Finally, she choked, "But if – if it wasn't for her…"

Zeno walked into the chamber.

Canary broke down in sobbing. Killua could only hope she'd be alright after this… in her current state, she looked like nothing more than a broken doll. It was almost as if her soul itself had broken.

Killua would have to wonder what Canary had been trying to say before Lucy had told her to shut up later. After she looked a little better, maybe he'd ask her.

There was something that Lucy wanted to hide. He could tell that much from how agitated and scared she had become when Canary had been trying to tell him who Lucy killed.

But what was it?

* * *

A few days had passed since her fight with Canary… the Zaoldyecks had decided that she'd had enough training for the moment. These few days were for healing from her wounds a bit.

She had awoken after the first day of rest (she hadn't slept at all in the past few days…), but she didn't want to see anyone.

Especially Killua.

Canary had almost said it. She'd almost said what Lucy had done. Killua had almost found out.

But what if Killua had figured out what Canary was saying? She didn't know how he'd have figured it out, but what if…?

What if Canary told him something after Killua had knocked her out? What if he had known enough beforehand to know?

"_So what we know," Shalnark began, "is that the Avian tribe of people with bird names wants Meteor City gone."_

"_They naïve to think people of Meteor City die easily," Feitan said icily._

"_And thus," Shalnark continued, "they're conspiring with the government to try and get rid of it."_

"_The government is afraid of us," Kuroro said. A smile almost crossed his face. "And we'll use that fear against them."_

"_Yes, that would be good," Shalnark agreed. "Feitan did a good job getting that information from the government official we captured."_

"_Does that mean we'll get to kill them all?" Ubou asked eagerly._

"_Yes," Kuroro replied._

_A wide grin spread across Ubou's face as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the massacre._

"_The government's brain seems to be lacking in intelligence, since they don't seem to realize that the same thing will happen this time as what happened the last time they tried to get rid of Meteor City," Shalnark said. "The only real difference from last time with the red-eyed tribe was that that time, the government consulted the people, and this time, the people consulted the government."_

"_Since when has the government had a brain?" Phinks asked, shrugging. "They're stupid. They don't learn. That's all there is to it."_

"_Well," Shalnark said. "Since they didn't seem to understand our last warning to them of what would happen to those who tried to harm Meteor City, I guess we'll have to show them again."_

"_Do I get to participate this time?" Luelle asked._

"…_If you want to," Kuroro said, after a moment._

_Shalnark looked as if he wanted to object. Luelle stuck her tongue out at him._

"_If you die, I kill you," Feitan said to her. _

"_Hmph. I'd never die on a simple mission like this," Luelle said confidently._

"_Haha," Nobunaga said, ruffling her hair. "Never underestimate your opponents, kid."_

"_I'm not underestimating them!"_

"_Yeah, yeah."_

"_Alright, shall we get going then?" Shalnark asked._

"_Yes," Kuroro said. His depthless black eyes stared at each of them. "Their fear is their weakness… and we, the predators, shall prey upon it. Durham Jets died because we accepted everything they said, but then they realized they were wrong, and they took it back. Meteor City was the creation of our acceptance of invisibility to society."_

"_Haha," Nobunaga laughed. "We were the elephant in the room that the government just kept ignoring."_

"_Because of Durham Jets, we have accepted the spotlights that have been thrown upon us. But now, they want to take our existence away, to destroy us, to make us but a fragment of the past."_

"_Heh," Phinks said. "Like hell we'll let them."_

"_We accepted everything, but they took it back. They are the prey who have tried to control their predators and for that, we will devour them. We'll kill, kill all who try to attack us. Kill just to remind them of their weakness, kill for our own pleasure. This time, it won't be thirty-one of them and thirty-one of us._

"_This time, it will be countless of them, and none of us." _

The Kurutas had died to prove just how pathetically weak the government was. Before the Spiders had killed them, they were little known – there was no reason to do anything that big previously. The Avians had died for the same reason as the Kurutas… They were the beginning of the chain of deaths that resulted. The Kurutas' eyes had been sold and stolen not only because of their beauty and worth, but also to show the government how little they could do against Meteor City and the Spiders. To mock them.

To say, "We are the ones in control. Look – we killed them all. Look – this is the result of trying to oppose us. Look – this is how weak you are."

The stealing and selling of the Kurutas eyes was a warning to the world. The massacre of the Avians was a declaration of war.

_We accept everything, so don't take anything back._

But Killua… what if he found out she was a Spider? What would he do?

Would he tell Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio?

And if he did… then what would happen?

* * *

The good news: the action in the Zaoldyeck arc is pretty much over, so I'll be moving on to the Celestial Tower arc soon.

The bad news: I've run out of planned material.

The conclusion: There are some LucyXKillua fluff scenes I can write for the next few chapters, but I really don't have that much else to say after that. I'm gonna have to spend some time planning the Celestial Tower arc as well. If my updating becomes more sporadic, I'm sorry D;

(...I'm also thinking of writing a Gakuen Alice fanfic and entering this writing competition... / / gets killed)

Thanks to all of you who've drawn Lucy recently~ Links are up on my profile (if I missed any, please let me know) =D

**So far, in the entire story, what was your favorite part?~**

I'd love to know =D


	36. Zaoldyeck House: Third Week

Sorry for the wait! ;D Here's an update (finally)!

Thanks for all the favorites/alerts/reviews/concrits/everything else ;D

Disclaimer: HxH belongs to Togashi.

* * *

**Clowns x Love Letters x Experiments**

Ever since her fight with Canary, Lucy kept having this dream. In her dream, there were two clowns, but they were strange. Everything around her was full of vivid reds, blues, yellows, greens… it was like a carnival. People mulled around, laughing to each other, and brilliant lights flashed on and off. The overly-sweet smell of fried food saturated the air. Everything around her was happy and colorful, but the clowns… the clowns were colorless. One clown wore an outfit that was mostly white with black splatters on it, and the other clown's outfit was mostly black with white splatters. It wasn't just the clowns' outfits that were black and white though; the clowns were like people in a black and white photograph – entirely grayscale. Each of the clowns would smile and hold a hand out to her, as if gesturing to her to come with him, but something told her she couldn't go with both of them. The mostly-white clown wanted to take her one way; the mostly-black clown wanted to take her another.

But in the end, even though one clown as whiter than the other, they were both gray.

Only the clowns' eyes weren't black, white, or gray – perhaps that was the most disturbing part of the dream. Crimson spots dotted the aqua eyes of the whiter clown, as if to taint pure, serene water with blood. On the other hand, the eyes of the blacker clown were a continual mesh of colors, continually warring with one another for whose existence would overpower the others. Unlike the whiter clown's eyes where she could clearly make out two colors, the eyes of the blacker clown were too chaotic.

Since she wouldn't take the hand of either of them, the clowns cocked their heads, bemused.

"Are you unable to decide?" one of them asked.

"How silly," the other one grinned. "A naïve child."

"I'm not naïve!" she wanted to shout at them, but for some reason, she chose not to say anything. They chuckled at her annoyance.

"She who cannot decide…" the first clown began.

"…chooses neither," the second clown finished.

And then the clowns would fade away, leaving her there, standing in the middle of the carnival.

* * *

"Zebulo-san, Shikua-san, thank you very much!" Gon said gratefully. Today was a great day. The sun was shining brightly down upon as they said their goodbyes to the two men who had helped them train to make it past the Testing Gates.

"Not a problem," Zebulo said. "You will need to be careful now."

"Yup!"

"Just follow this path up to the mountain," Zebulo continued, gesturing towards the huge mountain, enshrouded in a thick layer of white clouds, looming in the distance past a thick forest. "I think the house is probably somewhere on the mountain."

"…Probably?" Leorio repeated grimly.

"Sorry," Zebulo said apologetically, scratching the back of his head. There had never been much of a reason for him to go there, so he had simply never went. "To tell you the truth, I've never been to the house. Can't help you there."

"Please don't say that," Kurapica said. Zebulo smiled at the blond-haired boy.

"So then, we'll be leaving now!" Gon said happily.

"Do your best!" he called out as they walked away. He liked those kids – the innocent one, the calm one, and the loud, hot-tempered one. They were all different, but they were all good people. Killua-sama had made some nice friends… if only the other Zaoldyecks were capable of making friends like them.

But then again, if they were, they wouldn't be the Zaoldyecks anymore, now would they?

"The three of them really are amazing," Zebulo said, this time to Shikua. Shikua stood next to him, wearing his typical red vest and gold shirt while smoking a cigarette. He wasn't one much for goodbyes, so he hadn't said anything while Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio were leaving. "Now you should know the reason why I went 'psycho.'"

"Yeah, but…" Shikua began, "what really scares people is what's coming up next. Even with well preparation and complete protection, within only five minutes, she killed over a hundred men."

Zebulo knew Shikua was reminiscing to a time several years ago, and he knew who he was talking about – the mysterious line-guarding girl. The only time Zebulo had ever seen her was when she first walked came to the mansion with her younger brother… The two of them had looked so pitiful. He couldn't help but wonder what their reasons for coming to the Zaoldyeck mansion were from time to time. He doubted they were anything like that of Gon, Kurapica, and Leorio.

"I remember the one survivor was scared to death after that," Zebulo said. "He quit being a hunter and stayed to work as a door watcher."

Shikua let out a puff of smoke. "Well, that's when I truly realized what it means to do something out of your reach."

"But the masters and servants here are all monsters," Zebulo reminded him. There was hardly anyone that could compare to them anywhere in the world, particularly in the case of the Zaoldyecks themselves. "Those children will understand after they go across that line."

Zebulo thought about the three kids for a moment. Normally the household intruders were like Shikua had been, entering because they wanted the fame of taking down the Zaoldyecks. These kids were different though. It was amazing how far they'd go for their friend; most people would have given up the second they'd found out he was a Zaoldyeck. "If it's those kids though, maybe…" Zebulo started thoughtfully.

"I haven't had daydreams in a long time," Shikua commented.

"I heard you even pointed your gun at Mike to save Gon," Zebulo said incredulously. "Is that because they're still so young?"

"People need to have a dream."

* * *

That Deep Fat Fried Balloon… was a snake. Mind you, the fattest snake she had ever met, but definitely a snake. She had wanted to avoid Killua, but did he let her? Of course not.

The first thing he did was convince Killua to play a (probably rigged) video game with him under the condition that the loser had to do one thing that the winner wanted. The Deep Fat Fried Snakey Balloon told Killua to write a letter to chocolate, saying what he would do if it ran away from him.

And naturally, the Deep Fat Fried Snakey Balloon had given it to her and told her it had been written to her after whiting out the word "chocolate" whenever it appeared.

Now what, by chance, do you think that letter said?

It said something along the lines of:

_(insert big splotch of white out where the Dear _ should be)_

_Where are you my beloved (insert more white out here)? How could you leave me? The world is such a dreadful place when I can't have you around. Your lack of presence in my life has shattered me! I don't know how I can live without you. _

_~ Killua_

Clearly, all the chocolate he was eating had gone to his head and driven him insane. In any case, Killua's brain was more dysfunctional then she had realized. How the heck could he write that corny stuff? That had to be the sappiest thing she'd ever read. You know, she fainted when she first read it since she thought it was for her. Thinking about it, she felt her face heat up slightly, but she decided the reason for that was most certainly because of irritation and definitely not because of anything else. How dare Milluki trick her.

Vanilla was a good dessert. It kept you sane.

Oh, but Milluki wasn't even done after that! After that, he proceeded to drug Killua. And now you're asking, "How is it possible to drug a Zaoldyeck?"

It is very impossible indeed, if your name is Milluki Zaoldyeck.

He had simply slipped Killua some sort of enhanced alcohol that he himself had invented. Which would explain why the Zaoldyecks weren't resistant to it. He had purposely created it in order to make a drug that the Zaoldyeck's _weren't_ entirely resistant to. She didn't know much about it, but she suspected that if a normal person took even a small sip of it, they'd automatically overdose. It wouldn't be the normal sort of overdose though. It would be the sort of thing where the second you think of something depressing, you want to commit suicide. What a great drug for a Zaoldyeck to create, eh?

Well, truth be told, it just made you act more on your instincts. From what she'd found out, Milluki had used the drug in order to test whether or not he could get Killua to go see her under its influence. And Killua did. Or at least Milluki said he did. Lucy couldn't help but wonder if Milluki had drugged her with something as well because she couldn't remember this visit at all. All she knew was that the Deep Fat Fried Snakey Balloon seemed to have gotten something intriguing out of it because a very creepy smile would curl over his fat, greasy lips whenever she mentioned it.

Well, she figured it must be true that Milluki had drugged Killua to make him visit her because the next morning after that, Lucy had woken up holding hands with Killua. One way or another, he had fallen asleep sitting next to her bed. Now Lucy wanted to know how the heck that happened, but she wasn't going to find out unless she could convince Milluki to tell her.

(So far, she had been rather unsuccessful.)

Again, she felt her face flush slightly, and again, she blamed it on irritation.

As such, she had then proceeded to attempt to free her hand of Killua's, but that was to no avail. She didn't know what kind of strange invention Milluki must have used to accomplish this feat, but she couldn't let go of Killua's hand, nor could he let go over hers, for the entire day. That stupid Deep Fat Fried Snakey Balloon. It was incredibly difficult for her to keep her calm when he was around. She had to constantly remind herself of Kuroro's and Shalnark's advice that letting anger control you only got you into trouble. Lots of trouble.

In her opinion, being stuck to Killua for an entire day was _more_ than enough trouble as it was.

This time the flush was even greater than before. She needed to get better at not showing her anger on her face.

This was only anger…

Definitely not anything else.

Yes. Definitely.

…

…She hoped she could leave the Zaoldyeck house soon. She wasn't sure how much more annoyance by the Deep Fat Fried Balloon she could handle.

* * *

Milluki sighed, both pleased and displeased with his recent experiments. His first dating sim game experiments with Lucy and Killua were a success. Upon receiving the "love letter" from Killua, Lucy had turned a magnificent rainbow of reds doing one of the following: a) ripping up the letter, b) demanding to know Milluki what he was scheming, or c) fainting. She had chosen the third option, fainting.

Then, he had successfully drugged Killua with his own special concoction. Killua's options had been a) do nothing, b) go see Lucy, or c) investigate her connection to Canary (Yes, Milluki had certainly been listening in on Lucy and Canary during their battle. How he loved his household listening devices). He had chosen option b, to Milluki's great satisfaction. Although the two of them hadn't done anything particularly juicy (which was disappointing), Killua had chosen to stay with her all night and she had talked to him while half asleep. It was a possible fluff scene for a dating sim game, so it was nice material.

And then after that he had simply used another invention to make their hands stick together. The material he had received from that was priceless. The whole day, they refused to look at each other. They were too embarrassed. How amusing.

Now the experiments Milluki was displeased with were his recent zombification attempts. He had recently read a manga with a rather sexy zombie girl called "Sankarea," and he had to admit, it would be awfully nice to have his own personal zombie girl. He had attempted to research that stuff called "nen" that he had read about by hacking the Hunter website and found out it could also be defined as "life force". In that case, assuming he manipulated nen correctly, it was theoretically possible to revive the dead.

…Milluki couldn't use nen though.

…

(So in the end, it was only a given that these experiments were failures.)

If Zeno was there, he would have said, "Mil… you're a genius, but also an idiot," just like he did when Milluki made the mosquito bomb.

* * *

**Author's note:** Alright I'm gonna be honest and say that... I have some serious writer's block for the Celestial Tower arc. I have all these ideas, but I don't know how to organize them... which means more sporadic updates for this story. I'm sorryyyy D;

On a brighter note, you should read my sister's HxH story called "A Muted Truth is a Lie." It's good! I'm helping her beta it~ She only has one chapter up so far, but I think you'll like it ;3

**I've also started writing a story called Fallacy for the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom. Check it out!** xD

It's about a girl an incredibly curious girl called Claire who manages to get herself into the investigations department at the military. She not an alchemist, a chimera, or a homunculus, and she may not be a stronger fighter, but she's really smart. Just how strong is knowledge really? EnvyXOC.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter (Did you like my creepy lil clowns at the beginning? I think I've watched Dark Woods Circus one too many times...)~ Review please ;D


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